This open letter is for all members of Athletics Clubs in the Cambridgeshire County area.
To the Chair and Committee of Cambridgeshire Athletics Association
Women & men race over the same distances on the roads and on the track, but in cross-country the women's races are often much shorter, sometimes barely more than half of the men's distance. Currently, at the Cambridgeshire County Cross Country Championships, the senior men run a 10k distance whereas the senior ladies run 5.8k later in the day. This isn’t even in line with the National Cross Country distance of 8km for women.
This both downgrades the women's event compared to the men's, and sends a message to girls and those watching that they are not capable of as much as boys. Sport should be empowering girls, women, men and boys alike, not assuming they are unable to run the longer distance and takinnm JJg the choice away from the runners.
In your response to my initial enquiry regarding this matter you advised that, following discussion with committee members, the reasons for not implementing this change were as follows:
Point 1:
‘The current timetable sees the Senior Women running a combined race with U20 Women and Masters age groups. Over recent years, we have tried to condense the overall timetable in response to comments from athletes and any move to accommodate the longer distance for Senior Women would make that shorter overall timetable impossible to d ov:'(eliver.’:-P:-P
Point 2:
‘The viability of the County Cross Country Champs is important. The Cambs AA event is one of the most successful in terms of number of participating athletes, allowing the Committee to keep entry fees very low. Any move to increase the distance for Senior Women may reduce significantly the number of entries in that age group and put pressure on existing budgets, especially when coupled with increased costs this year as a result of the new online entry system being extended to Cross Country Championship entries. It was agreed that entry fees would remain unchanged.’
In response to point 1 - to not accommodate a request for change simply due to a timetable consideration is not acceptable and unfair. There appears to have been no consideration to reduce the men’s distance to 5 miles for example and increase the women’s to the same - thus assisting with ‘timetable accommodation’. It implies that a change to create equality is an inconvenience with little action taken to try and rework the timetable to bring about an equal footing.
In response to point 2 - the point of this open letter is to show you, as our Athletics Association that there IS support to create equality in our Cross Country events. There were 85 entrants in the 2019 event - it is hoped that this open letter will show you that the support to change the inequality far outweighs a financial incentive.
To not consider a change to our distance by implying we are not worth a small price increase (if numbers were low) is not acceptable and implying that the female runners are not worth the change consideration.
It is 33 years since the women's marathon was included in the Olympic Games. The IAAF have equalised the distances run in the World Cross-Country Championships, and Scottish Athletics have done the same for their national championships. It is high time for competitions in England to follow suit.
Signed:
PLEASE STATE NAME AND CLUB (or area if you would prefer)
Charlotte Sygmuta - Ely Runners
Lauren Thomas - Ely Runners
Hilary Speight - North Yorkshire
Adrian Scruton - Cambridge and Coleridge AC
Emma Fordham - Ely Runners
Jerry Thew - Ely Runners
James Thew - Ely Runners
Lucy Thew - Ely Runners
Catriona Cole - Ely Runners
Jon Evans - Ely Runners
Ross Payne - Ely Runners
Kevin Hutchings - Royton Road Runners
Serena Heading - Ely Runners
Shara Hayes - Ely Runners
Sarah Bell - Ely Runners
Ellen Moffett - Lets Run Girls Ely
Jo Griffin - Ely Runners and LRG
Justin Smith - Ely Runners
Charlotte Nevison - Ely Runners
Caroline Brown, Ely Runners
Eva Wilkes - Norwich Road Runners
Stuart Byrne - Ely Runners
Zoe Evans - Ely Runners
Lucie Knight - Meridian Triathlon Club
Jonathan Price - Ely Runners
Ian Keys - Ely Runners
Richard Hill - Ely Runners
Estivy Díaz Pérez - NA Runner
Kath Gerighty-Ely Runners
Shaun Rhodes - Ely Runners
Emma Rhodes - Ely Runners
Richard Lyle - Cambridge & Coleridge AC
Michelle Bird, Bodymode Running Club
Clare Bacchus - Cambridge & Coleridge AC
Natalie Andrews - Ely Runners
Rob Moir - St. Neots Riverside Runners
Fiona Waddelow - Ely Runners
Charlie Wartnaby - Cambridge & Coleridge AC
Liz Hyslop- Ely Runners
Andrew Caines - Cambridge Triathlon Club
Lisa Edwards - Ely Runners
Tracy Loker - Ely Runners
Mark Edwards - Ely Runners
Kieren Drane - Ely Runners
Robert Pope - Ely Runners
Allistair Berry - Ely Runners
Michelle Berry - Ely Runners
Andrew Fovargue March AC
Clare Andrews- Ely Runners
Elizabeth Ludlow- Ely Runners
Cathy Gibb-de Swarte - Lonely Goat Running Club
Gemma Bridges - Ely Runners
Henry Wright - Ely Runners
Katrina Myers- Ely Runners
Dominic Myers- Ely
John Lagrue - Ely Runners
Elizabeth Carter - Ely Runners
Melanie Wiffin - BRJ Run and Tri
Alice Edwards - BRJ Run and Tri
Paul Mitton - BRJ Run & Tri
Anna Douglas- BRJ Run & Tri
Kim Askew - Ely Runners
Anita Lewis - Ely Runners
Jonathan Eason - BRJ Run & Tri
Kyle Armstrong - Ely Runners
Claire Ashton - BRJ Run and Tri
Marco Wassersleben - BRJ Run and Tri
Naomi Course Ely Runners & Ely Tri Club
John Downs - Ely Runners
Cara Macfarlane-Ward - Ely Runners
Kirby-cook Ely Runners
Ray Harding - Ely Runners
Andrew Scarlett - Ely Runners
Adam Smeeton- Ely Runners
Nicola Knott - Ely Runners
Zoe Shackleton - Ely Runners
Tim Abberley - Ely Runners
Sarah Luke - Ely Runners & Ely Tri Club
James Ryder - Ely Runners
Alison stewart-Ely Runners
Simon Grimshaw - Ely Runners
Kate Faulkner - Ely Tri Club
Gwen Graves - Ely Runners
Don Abeysekera - Ely Runners
Peter Vasey - Ely Tri Club & TRA
Claire Haggart - Ely Runners
James Hall- Ely runners
David Warren - Ely Runners
Ben Morris - Ely Runners
Alex Metcalfe - Ely Runners
John Turner - Ely Runners
Adam Earl - Ely Runners
Ian Blatchford - Ely Runners
Ruth Pegington - Ely Runners
Paul Griffin - Ely Runners
Alice Synge - BRJ Run and Tri
Colin Batchelor - Ely Runners
Charlie Ritchie - Cambridge & Coleridge
Claire Kennedy - Cambridge & Coleridge
Christof Schwiening - Cambridge Runners
Max Schwiening - Cambridge Runners