Friday Five: Best Races for Women?
ESPNW has listed the five best races for women. They are:
1) Disney Tinker Bell and Princess half marathons
2) Nike Women’s Marathon
3) ZOOMA women’s race series
4) Women Run the Cities
5) St. Luke’s Celebration – “the largest women’s 5K in the country.”
I’m fascinated by this, as the best races for women have one thing in common – lots and lots of women and (virtually) no men. I may be wrong, but I suspect the best races for men would also include lots and lots of women.
Some academic should do a study about the interaction of the sexes as it relates to running, because there are several contradictory dynamics going on. In one sense, running is the ultimate level playing field – everyone covers the same distance under the same external conditions. Regardless of sex, some runners are hyper-competitive and others use road races as social opportunities or community events.
On the other hand, female-centric races and diva nights clearly have great appeal to women, though male counterparts would seem prehistoric and trashy. I’ve never thought it was appropriate to chat up women while they’re running, though the existence of flunning makes me wonder if that’s just old school thinking. At the same time, a race/expo for dudes only would have no special appeal for me, and I suspect most male runners would feel the same.
Why wouldn’t a “best race for women” simply feature more – and cleaner – porta-potties, lots of convenient viewing areas for family and friends, and gender-specific t-shirts? What are guys doing that make women-only races such a draw?
It’s not what guys are doing that makes women’s races such a draw when it comes to running. As I have tried to explain to my husband many times, you don’t get it unless you live it. It’s like running, professional, whatever types of groups that are gender/race/nationality specific. It’s not always that some other group is doing something wrong as it is that there is strong comfort, support and an understanding environment when surrounded by those who are like you. Yes, there are all sorts of arguments against that, too, but when it comes to running I say that whatever gets people out and moving is GOOD.
You can have your women-only races. I did the Nike Women’s Marathon in SF and said “never again.” Why? Bus loads of squealing women everywhere at my hotel. Hysterics in a start line-area hotel bathroom when one woman’s stall ran out of toilet paper. Waaaaaaaaaay too much pink – EVERYWHERE. Emphasis on shopping rather than running. I am as girly as the next girl, but my gosh. It’s a race, not a trip to the mall.
I’ve no interest in doing an all women’s race. Passing guys is half the fun!
A women-only race has never held particular appeal to me personally. Perhaps the women who DO like to compete in women-only races feel like the playing field is more level…after all, like it or not, and generally speaking of course, men are faster and stronger than women, so having that competitive element removed from a race may be appealing to some women. Not to me. What I love about running is that there is so much diversity. I have passed and been passed by men and women of all shapes, sizes, weights, ages, and ethnicities. It’s pretty cool! And I must say the men have always behaved themselves quite nicely at the races in which I have participated.