Threshold Events, the organisers of Race to the Stones and Endure 24, have discovered that investing heavily in female participation in their events has resulted in significant uptake by both women and men.
Threshold and SheRACES released a joint white paper this week, evaluating the benefits of investment in gender parity in ultra distance trail running events. The release coincided with a launch of a documentary celebrating the success of its Ultra 50:50 campaign, which sought to level the startlines for women across its endurance events.
SheRACES was founded by ultrarunner Sophie Power to level the start line for women at races. It works with sponsors, athletes and race directors to identify and dismantle the barriers that prevent women from competing in races and events.
Researching female participation in races
SheRACES and Threshold conducted independent research that identified these barriers. The findings suggested that issues relating to female representation and perceptions of the sport, training and preparation, access and support, safety and harassment and menstrual health posed the greatest challenges to female participants.
The Ultra 50:50 initiative from Threshold set out to address these challenges head on, and the results have been universally…
