Since 2013, the Threshold Trail Series has consistently welcomed a higher proportion of women than the industry standard. However, female participation across all running distances has declined by 10% since the covid pandemic,* and there is a 24% drop in female participation in Ultras compared to participation in shorter 5km events. Just one third of UK ultrarunners are currently female.
Threshold Sports aspires to reverse this trend and tackle the challenges to female participation in ultra-distance events through initiatives around health, safety, preparation and representation.
Threshold Sports’ new initiative – Ultra 50:50 – endeavours to achieve gender parity and set new industry standards to inspire, empower and enable women to take part in events at the toughest end of the running distance spectrum. The Ultra 50:50 mission sees Threshold Sports partner with SheRACES, grass roots running groups, female runners, as well as those not already in the running community, to not only understand the challenges that prevent women from taking part, but to address these challenges head on.
They hope that by raising awareness of the challenges women face and showcasing the changes they have made to their events, they can provide a commercially sustainable blueprint for other event organisers that share this mission.
Experts working with Threshold Sports include:
Sophie Power, SheRACES Founder; Emma Kirk-Odunubi, Performance Coach; Dr Nicky Keay, Hormone Health Expert; Dr Josephine Perry, Performance Psychologist; and Tasha Thompson, founder of Black Girls Do Run.
Following research and consultation with industry experts, the first phase of the campaign has identified five key areas of challenge for women:
- Female Representation & Perceptions
- Training & Preparation
- Access & Support at the Event
- Safety & Harassment
- Menstrual Health & the Menopause
Over the coming months Threshold Sports will undertake a series of initiatives to tackle these challenges ahead of next summer’s events. This will include showcasing the inspiring stories of female runners, and helping to connect runners so that they can support each other during their training. A series of pop-up running events in the lead up to the summer will continue to delve into the challenges to participation and enhancements on the events next year will support female participants on the next – or first – step on their running journey.
Sophie Power, SheRACES Founder, said: “Women face many barriers to being on the start line. Some are societal, but some are put in place – often unknowingly – by races themselves. SheRACES conducted in-depth research on women’s experiences in racing and used this insight to develop the first set of guidelines for race organisers. Helping them understand how to get more women on the start line, give us a better experience when we race and equally value our competition. These were adopted by Threshold last year and we are delighted that it has now launched the 50:50 campaign to further its commitment to equality.”
Nick Tuppen, CEO at Threshold Sports commented: “Our ambition is to achieve gender parity at the Trail Series, but it shouldn’t stop there. We have an incredible team of experts working with us, and what we learn and implement during this campaign could help to raise standards across the industry so that women are offered equal opportunities to fulfil their running potential.”
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