Why Women’s-Only Races Are Crucial

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In 1967, women sports pioneer Kathrine Switzer challenged the notion that women did not belong in the marathon distance. That year, she registered for the Boston Marathon under the pseudonym K.V. Switzer, was manhandled and nearly pulled off the course by the race director, but ultimately finished. Still, Boston continued to hold steadfast to its all-male tradition until 1972.

That was only the beginning of her advocacy for women’s equality in the sport of running. In 1978 Switzer created the Avon International Women’s Running Circuit, a series of 400 races held in 27 countries around the world. The goal was to get the attention of the International Olympic Committee and convince them there was enough talent and interest in the sport to make the women’s marathon an official Olympic event. Her efforts, and all of the women who competed, were rewarded when the first official women’s marathon was held in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Switzer launched her second Avon series in 1998 and it continued to flourish through 2004. And the idea of women’s-only races didn’t end there, as female-focused events are still hosted across the country to this day. RunSignup reports that 124 U.S. women’s-only running races took place in 2023, some of the most popular being the New York Mini 10K and the Boston 10K for Women. And this year on November 16, 7,000 women will participate in the inaugural Every Woman’s Marathon.

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Women’s Running is Booming

In some ways, it’s better now than ever to be a female runner. Statistically, women are entering more races than men, making up 53 percent of official event participants, according to RunSignup. Marathon participation, which was heavily skewed toward men for decades, has been trending toward an equal split between men and women among many U.S. races in recent years. The 2023 Boston Marathon field was comprised of 42 percent women, while 44 percent of the finishers of the 2023 New York City Marathon were women.

In September, ultrarunner Tara Dower, from Virginia, beat the overall (both male and female) Fastest Known Time for the Appalachian Trail, completing the trek in 40 days, 18 hours, and 5 minutes. The demand for women’s running apparel and footwear is increasing, with women’s running shoe sales accounting for 49 percent of the annual running shoe market in 2022.

In October, Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya became the first woman to break the 2:10 barrier in the marathon, winning the Chicago Marathon in 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 56 seconds.

When it comes to running, life is good, and the future is female.

For the reasons above, one might wonder if female-focused races like Every Woman’s Marathon are necessary anymore. If women have made such fantastic strides toward equality in the sport, why do we still need events like this?

The answer lies in statistics and numbers—not the positive ones that measure women’s success, but far more concerning ones. For instance, a 2023 Adidas study surveyed 9,000 runners across nine countries and found that 92 percent of women are worried for their safety when they go for a run. Fifty-one percent are afraid of being physically attacked, compared to 28 percent of men. Every year, women are murdered while running: Sydney Sutherland, Mollie Tibbetts, Wendy Martinez, Ally Brueger, Samantha Murphy, Alyssa Loktis, just to name a few.

Beyond safety, women face even more barriers to running. The ASICS study Closing the Gender Exercise Gap reports that motherhood is one of the primary reasons women with children stop running and participating in regular exercise. And it’s not just adult women who face reasons to stop running—49 percent of girls drop out of sports by the time they turn 14, which is six times higher than the rate for boys. These girls report stopping athletics because of negative body image, concerns around safety, and lack of female role models in sports. Whatmore, the MilkPEP research partner, Radius, conducted a survey of women runners and found that 60 percent of them felt most endurance races cater more to men.

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A Race and a Safe Space

Every Woman’s Marathon, developed and sponsored by Milk, aims to not only create a race experience that addresses many barriers women face against running, but it serves as both a celebration of the female experience and a reminder of how far we have to go to achieve equality in the sport.

Miranda Abney, vice president of consumer marketing at MilkPep, says that from day one of planning the marathon, the goal was to get as much input from female runners as possible. MilkPep’s research team identified a broad swatch of women who identify as runners and surveyed them to find out more about their wants, dislikes, and reasons why they wouldn’t enter an official race.

“We worked to ease the amount of strain the barriers we uncovered caused,” Abney says. “Like the costly registration fees, and the [accessibility] of the course, and the fact that we have a longer cutoff time than most races (7 hours and 45 minutes). It felt like we really built this race together.”

She notes that one of the most common reasons women didn’t feel comfortable at official races was the lack of bathrooms.

“This was a really easy thing to address,” she says, adding, “I think [women are put off by] a lot of the competitiveness that is programmed into a race, like the age groups and different tiers. We really wanted this to be about a collective group of women crossing the finish line together, so we tried to take away the things that made it competitive and focused on it being more supportive.”

This aligns with Running USA’s  2024 Global Runner Survey’s findings that women’s motivation for running is largely health-based, whereas a majority of men run to compete. While Every Woman’s Marathon’s efforts to cater to this statistic are important to welcoming new runners into the sport by decreasing the intimidation factor, it raises the question of how to get more women encouraged and involved in competing.

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Familiar Female Faces

The organizers of Every Woman’s Marathon created a strong team of familiar faces in women’s running to help develop and promote the race. The ambassadors include Switzer, Des Linden, a two-time U.S. Olympic marathoner and 2018 Boston Marathon champion; Allison Mariella Desir, activist and author of Running While Black; Danielle Mclaughlin, a two-time cancer survivor and former national and world champion paratriathlete; and Deena Kastor, the bronze medalist in the marathon in the 2004 Olympics and previous American record holder in the half-marathon and marathon.

“I chose to get involved with Every Woman’s Marathon because the format is designed to welcome runners of all abilities,” Kastor says. “The idea is to get a diverse group of women empowering each other to grow physically, mentally, and emotionally through this sport. With 40 percent of the participants being first-time marathon runners, I think we’ve done a good job at that.”

Kastor was a star runner in her youth, impressing people with her talent and promise. But she notes in her memoir Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory that the fear of failure and enormous amount of pressure she placed on herself almost made her quit running altogether. Studies on a range of topics from business and collegiate athletes report that women fear failure more than men, which means Kastor isn’t alone in her experience.

“Self-care and self-love were critical to my growth as a runner and person—it is not an easy journey when it’s so easy to measure ourselves against how beautiful others are or what they are accomplishing or doing,” she says. “Being able to look in the mirror and see that we can love ourselves and, at the same time, be insatiable in our striving is a beautiful balance, but it takes work.”

Abney hopes that Every Woman’s Marathon promotes positive thinking rather than thoughts of self-doubt. To aid in this mission, race ambassadors recorded motivational voice notes that runners will hear at every mile marker if they are using the race’s tracking app.

What Does the Future Hold?

“It’s obviously been an interesting year in many ways for women. I think having an opportunity to share in the solidarity of this event is something that we can all use now more than before even,” Abney says. “We don’t take enough time to stop and celebrate special things and special accomplishments.”

Kastor sees this race as a stepping stone toward further growth in diversity in the running world.

“I would love to see running become more diverse in participation, like a day when we are no longer celebrating ‘the first Chinese woman,’ or ‘the first Native American over 50,’ because club members and race entrants would be so varied,” she says. “Throughout civilization we have lived in a caste system, but the next step is to see that dissolve. I see running as being a great leader in that space.”

When asked “Why do these kinds of events matter?” Kastor has the perfect answer:

“It’s important for events like Every Woman’s Marathon to succeed and grow so more women can believe in their ability to accomplish hard things. When a woman is empowered, she may inspire her family, and even more so, ignite a community.”

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