Tonky Talk
Paul dips his toe in the above debate, as he is fearless and wise
For such a simple activity as ours, the running community is beset by vigorously debated divisions. To Strava or not to Strava? Decompression socks or anklets? Fully aware of my status as a cisgendered heteronormative white male, I hereby weigh in on the debate over whether women should run the same distance as men in cross-country.
I am a big fan of women. I’m born of a woman, am married to a woman and happily live and work among them. Many close friends are female and in terms of athletics I have never really seen a difference. My early running heroes were mostly women such as Rosa Mota, Grete Waitz, Zola Budd, Joan Benoit and Ingrid Kristiansen. I am regularly trounced in training and on race day by women of all ages.
So my answer to the question is yes. To believe women are in any way weaker over any distance is nonsense of the highest order. If you’d told me as a youth that we’d be debating in 2018 whether or not men and women should be racing over the same distance I’d have thought you were being ridiculous but still, we are. Given that, various thoughts spring to mind.
My first thought is – why would anyone want to run longer? Men’s races tend to fall in the 10-15km mark, while women’s top out at 8-10km. Crosscountry is a freezing, muddy, wet purgatory. I’ve often been tempted to self-identify as a woman on the day to spare myself the extra distance.
So given that any question regarding women not running the same distances is essentially a non-issue, why don’t we all run in the same race? Just charge as one, a multi-gendered mass of vests, arms, spikes and legs. Is it not a tad anachronistic to be separated like this? Well, again, yes. But I do have to say (and I’d be interested to hear women’s take on this), I quite like the current system. It’s a rare activity nowadays that separates the genders so clearly and the energy feels different. In my life I’ve found women overall to be a civilising influence. To line up with just men is a more raw feeling, a no-holds-barred arena of pure cross-country conflict. This is not to suggest that women aren’t fierce competitors – it’s just, for me, when racing women I might be tempted to be slightly more polite at certain moments and rein in my basest instincts.
Am I alone in this? Do women feel it? Is there at all a sense where you want to maintain some singlesex environments? I’m reminded of the ‘should we share public toilets’ debate. We can of course; it just might not be very nice. I would not inflict the average public male toilet on most men, never mind women.
After a chat with my daughter, I would argue we tend to measure ourselves against our peers. And our peers, the people we are ultimately in competition with, tend to be from the same sex. I do not feel that competitive towards or with women. That’s not because I feel better than them (I don’t). I have to be honest, and I’m aware this may sound pathetic, when I race men I am trying to beat them; when I race women I am trying on some level (and failing) to impress them. That’s not to say I’m one of those men whose masculinity is challenged by the idea of a woman beating them. On the road and track it’s simply not an issue.
The more I think about it, the more I think it’s that I find crosscountry hard enough in the first place. It’s the running environment where I experience most humiliation and I’d like to spare the women from witnessing it. So yes, let’s all race together (but first I need to get fitter). And I hold firm on the toilets.
Check out Paul and fellow comedian Rob Deering's running podcast, Running Commentary – available on itunes and Acast. @Runcompod