Ultramarathon Daily News | Tue, Mar 10

Looks like NIKE is trying to set up a WR attempt in the track 100. Or something? Is anyone running this?

I’m sitting in my front room typing this news post with a nice warm cup of coffee. Meanwhile, a couple dozen of our fellow runners are in Alaska in freezing temps with hundreds of miles to go until the finish line. Live Iditarod tracking here. What a crazy sport.

Canadian Running: What an absolute bullsh*t and deliberately misrepresented headline. No, nothing is stopping transgender athletes from competing in HS sports. (Bill language here.) The bill seeks to protect girls from an unfair playing field and uses sex designations over gender identity for competition. This makes perfect sense to most people. Trans students can still play whichever sports they choose, so long as they compete against students of the same biological sex.
We need to stop obfuscating a very important issue in an attempt to win favor from a tiny percentage of people. #savewomenssports

Coincidentally, also from Canadian Running this week: Why sports medicine needs more female researchers. Because, in their words, mens and women’s bodies are drastically different and the sporting world has been slow to study the effects of estrogen, fat oxidization, menstrual cycles and other physiological issues unique to women. So…which is it?

Remember those two runners who were rescued from the Scottish Highlands a few days ago? Well, turns out that when they were being helped, their Border Collie ran off and didn’t come back. SAR folks returned the next day with a tried and true method of bringing the pooch to safety.

Mario’s Morning Shakeout…Athlete engagement, Aliphine Tuliamuk, Dylan Bowman, and more.
Hot takes:

I agree with his tips and analysis on how to connect athletes with fans and media. Get out there and have personal interactions with people, go on shakeout runs, do more podcasts and meet and greets.
Agreed with that Tyson/Leonard interview. Beware though Mario, the last time I mentioned how fascinating the Tyson/Rogan interview was, I was attacked for supporting a rapist. Ugh.
Dylan’s six lessons were so on point. He’s been through a ton and his perspective means a lot to those of us who’ve dealt with major injuries.
And of course, tying is lame.

Looking for trail work days on the Western States Trail? Options.

One opinion on what you should eat on race day.

Marathon des Sables postponed due to Corona virus.

Short news day. Gotta run.

14 Responses to "Ultramarathon Daily News | Tue, Mar 10"

ultrarunnergirl says:

March 10, 2020 at 8:21 am

Oof. You know I love reading your daily news, but your comments about transgender girls are really difficult for me to read without getting pretty angry. Promoting a narrative that cis-gender girls somehow need to be ‘protected’ or ‘saved’ from the inclusion of transgender girls is incredibly hurtful and damaging. I would also challenge your comment about what makes “perfect sense” to most people – it doesn’t to me and I’m not afraid to vocally and strongly disagree with you. I suspect many others would as well, but probably don’t want to step into the fray. Regardless, it actually doesn’t matter what “most people” think is right – it is about human rights and respect for human dignity to help ensure that we produce a more equitable society, and that often requires protection of those who are in the minority. If trans girls are not allowed to play as girls, it really isn’t much of a choice at all. If you want to debate different ways of achieving better inclusion for trans girls, I’m all for it, but your comments seem to imply that their inclusion shouldn’t even be considered. I really wonder how many trans girls, trans women or trans athletes you’ve actually talked to before you hit out with this opinion? In my view, as someone who has delved a bit into these issues (and who has worked for over 15 years in human rights), it isn’t the cis-gender girls who need protecting.

I know you won’t take offense to me saying this as you appreciate a robust debate (and you wouldn’t have posted this if you weren’t ready for it!). I respect what you do, but I really can’t respect your opinion on this. Thanks for leaving the comment box open to let me say my bit!

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  March 10, 2020 at 8:52 am
  
  Robust and respectful debate are key to understanding issues. I’m all for it.
  
  Quick takes…gotta go to school.
  
  –I have a feeling that you’re objecting to a male’s attempt to “protect” girls sports. Plenty of women share my opinion and I’m assuming (tell me if I’m wrong!) you’d be more amenable to their messages. Fair?
  –With that said, as a father and a girls coach, I have no problem standing up for my kids and athletes.
  –You don’t agree with my stance, but most people do. Find a good poll that shows otherwise and I’ll gladly share it and consider it.
  –I’ve got multiple trans students at my elementary school and at least one in Sunny’s soccer league. I also have/had friends in the community. I couldn’t care less how people identify, and please don’t conflate these two issues. I’ll quote Tianna Bartoletta…Compete with your sex, identify with your gender.
  –I’ve written (here most recently in the comments) that there’s another option for allowing trans athletes to compete. I think it makes sense, what do you think?
  
  Gotta go.
  
  Reply
John says:

March 10, 2020 at 9:29 am

What about Eric’s comments led you to say that you can’t respect his opinion? His opinion seems clear, simple in form and very rational to me. Disagreement is normal and to be expected when opinions are at issue, but to say you cannot respect his opinion seems off-putting and kind of demeaning. You can’t respect this opinion bc it’s coming from a male or because you are making inferences beyond what was actually stated?

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Steven says:

March 10, 2020 at 10:16 am

John,
I feel the need to stick up for Ultrarunnergirl real quick here. Eric is entitled to his opinions, but that does not mean everyone else needs to respect those opinions. At no point reading her comment does she ever come off as saying he shouldn’t express his opinion because he is a Male.
I also do not think she is making inferences beyond what was actually stated. When Eric wrote “We need to stop obfuscating a very important issue in an attempt to win favor from a tiny percentage of people,” that makes it pretty clear he is advocating protecting cis-girls right to “compete” over trans athletes rights to inclusion. Again, Eric has the right to his opinion, but to belittle a human rights advocate over pointing out disagreements to his opinion is not productive. No one should be forced to agree or be silent just because the opinion is in the majority.

In my opinion this issue comes down to a few points.

Participating and competing in sports is a life changing positive impact for most individuals.

Individuals should not be kept from that experience because of who they are.

History is on the inclusion side of this argument. Name one time exclusion based on a personal characteristic throughout history has been the appropriate response?

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  March 10, 2020 at 10:24 am
  
  To your last point: When women fought hard to be included in sports and in a class of their own. That was a vitally important instance in society and athletics that deserves to be upheld and respected.
  
  The rest of your post I think we probably all agree. The internet is not the best place to discuss this stuff and I think (errr, hope?) we all respect each others opinions and believe that we’re all coming from a place of good will.
  
  Reply
Rachel says:

March 10, 2020 at 11:22 am

Re: Nike Run Hundred — Camille has tweeted that she’ll be chasing her WRs at that event.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  March 10, 2020 at 12:36 pm
  
  Makes sense. Thanks.
  
  Reply
Nicolas says:

March 10, 2020 at 12:16 pm

Go Stephanie!

Reply
Pat says:

March 10, 2020 at 1:09 pm

I feel like part of the issues are semantics. Words have meaning and sub-context. The word MALE has a definition and a feeling for those who use it. Being told you are being forced to compete in the male category will bring up feeling that are most likely unwanted for transgender girls.

So, on the athletic field, what we should really have are non-gendered categories, but that have specific criteria. As Eric said, the para community already do this. Or you can think of swimming strokes. No one thinks the breaststroke is lesser than the butterfly. Note: The “freestyle” is not the crawl. You are free to use your fastest stroke in a freestyle event. It is an open stroke event.

Male->open. We don’t need to have boys vs girls. We have the Open category, that would be inclusive of everyone and restrictive categories after that. For example, shouldn’t Katelyn Tuohy be able to compete against stronger competition if her and her coach decide? Don’t we give the overall title to the first person across the finish line?

This conversation as about equity vs equality. The spectrum of genders need equity, not equality. Allowing transgender females to compete in women only events is conflating equity with equality.

Reply
Steph says:

March 10, 2020 at 5:34 pm

“…it isn’t the cis-gender girls who need protecting.”

Wow, I feel like I just got sucker punched in the gut.

My solution? Transgenders are their own category and only compete against other transgenders.

Reply
1. eric schranz says:
  
  March 11, 2020 at 7:02 am
  
  A trans division is something that could work. See my comment on using the paralympics model.
  Re cis girls not need protecting, I don’t even know what to say. It makes me very sad, but also resolute in my push to help get these girls into more outdoor sports.
  
  Reply
Paul says:

March 10, 2020 at 5:42 pm

A few thoughts:

Trans adolescents kill themselves at a rate 20 times higher than the general population. They face a lifetime of abuse, discrimination and harassment. If reversing that means a handful of girls across the country finish 1 or 2 places lower in a footrace I think that is more than a fair trade. If I could improve the life of a highly marginalized group by finishing a spot or two lower in a race I’d would 100% be willing to do it.

Nobody born male is declaring themselves female for the purpose of winning a race.

Sadly, many against trans girls competing in girl’s sports do not raise this issue in good faith, but rather as means to fire up the base and scare suburban soccer moms. Many have been historically hostile to women’s rights. (I think Eric races the issue from a point of genuine concern)

A great way to see what trans people are up against is to read the comments section of an article on this topic (especially if un-moderated).

Reply
ultrarunnergirl says:

March 11, 2020 at 1:57 am

Eric, my reaction to your comments didn’t have anything to do with the fact that you’re a man – I would have (and have in the past) reacted the same if they had come from a woman. I’m non-discriminatory on that front 😉 When I wrote my previous article on Western States’ transgender policy in Outside Magazine, there were many comments from men and women alike on social media, positive and negative, and I took them on in the same way. I find cis-gender women’s attempts to ‘protect women’s sports’ from transgender women and girls equally as problematic as men’s attempts (perhaps more so!). This is a classic portrayal, I’m afraid, of a situation in which those who are in positions of relative advantage or power trying to protect that advantage from being taken away from them. People tend to agree with the concept of equality unless and until they feel it chips away at their own privilege – then it seen as having ‘gone too far’. In that respect, discrimination against transgender athletes (and people) is no different than all other forms of discrimination that I see and deal with on a daily basis in my work. The reality is that efforts to achieve equality often demand a re-balancing (I’m using the term ‘equality’ in the human rights sense of rights of equal opportunity, not equal treatment). But here, I actually fail to see what cis-gender girls would actually be giving up that would possibly justify the exclusion of trans girls.

I agree that women have fought hard for inclusion in the sport (and are still fighting :)). But trans girls are girls, and trans women are women. Until we can conceptually accept that, we won’t be getting very far. Arguments that trans athletes should just compete against one another in a separate category are untenable and, to many, offensive. To be crude, this is akin to suggestions of the past that some parts of the population drink out of separate water fountains…

I appreciate you say that you don’t care how people identify and you meant that as a positive. But we SHOULD care. As shown in the Western States’ example, biological sex may be important to consider in adult competition when awards/benefits are at stake, considering scientific studies about the relative advantage of testosterone (in which case certain rules come into play concerning hormone treatments etc). But we are talking about girls playing high school sports here, right? We should be promoting the right of everyone to participate in social activities, free from fear of discrimination, especially among the upcoming generation.

(Posting my comment again as I’m not sure if it is internet trouble in Afghanistan or if it is just being held in moderation – apologies if double posting).

Reply
Nicolas says:

March 11, 2020 at 8:05 am

Ultrarunnergirl (Stephanie Case) is our new hero. Amen.

Reply

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