women's only marathon

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Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

women's only marathon Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:47 am

This past October, Nike sponsored a women's only marathon in San Francisco. As far as I know, it was the first womens-only event of its kind outside of the women's Olympic trials. For the women reading this, would a race like this interest you more than a normal co-ed race? Do you think women's only races will become a more popular attraction in the future, or was this a one-time event and general bad idea?

BGibbsLMT

Southington, CT
Joined: 12 Dec 2004
Posts: 68

Re: women's only marathon Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 6:47 pm

Doesn't Avon sponsor a series of 5 and 10k races for women only?

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: women's only marathon Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:00 pm

I think they may have about 5-10 years ago, but I couldn't find anything about it when I searched online just now. If their women's race series did become defunct, then it doesn't bode well for the SF Women's Marathon. From the race directors perspective, a women's only event immediately rules out half of your potential customer base, and it doesn't seem like women are particularly interested in women's-only events anyway.

OldManRunner
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Rochester, NY
Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 262

Re: women's only marathon Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2004 12:13 pm

Well, I'm not a woman, nor do I play one on TV, but I thought a more interesting approach was the early women's start that they did at Boston this year. It made it possible to get a much better appreciation for the tactics and action in the women's race, rather than having them all mixed in with the sub-elite men. I heard the women liked it better too, because they didn't have a bunch of chauventistic (sp?) men cutting them off and trying like hell not to be beaten by a woman. And for what it's worth, I recognize that any woman who's running in front of me must be a much better athlete than I am because of the inherent musculature differences between men and women, so more power to them. Also, any woman who's running in front of me must be in good enough shape such that the view's undoubtedly not bad either! (shame on me!)

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: women's only marathon Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2004 12:54 pm

The New York Marathon also has a separate start now for the elite woman. It seems to be a popular trend, and it makes sense to me. That way the women's winner gets all the attention she deserves at the finish, instead of being cut off by some guy just as she's about to break the tape. At CIM this year, they actually had separate finish lines for men and women. About 100 yards from the end of the marathon, the course divided, with women finishing on one side of the street and men on the other. That seems reasonably too, but maybe too complicated.

mfox

South Orange, New Jersey
Joined: 19 Dec 2004
Posts: 367

Re: women's only marathon Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 10:52 pm

The Nike sponsored marathon in SF isn't the only womens-only marathon. The More Marathon in New York City's Central Park will have it's second annual event on April 10, 2005.

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