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Why more women runners in US races?
Studs Ramrod
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I've noticed in races in the USA that there is far more female representation than in the UK. In fact often over 50% are female runners in the US whereas in the UK it is usually less than a third.
Does anyone have any theories as to the disparity in representation? I'm not sure of the stats in other western countries.
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Comments
American male participation sports are for giants only. Unless you happen to be 6' 5" at minimum you're destined to be a professional spectator.
Sports: Grid Iron, Baseball, Basketball, Ice Hockey. Only giants need apply.
Other sports are for women where size doesn't matter.
So women can particpate and the men (undersize) just sulk and watch.
🙂
Having worked among Americans for over 35 years and involved in coaching/refereeing I can tell you it has more to do with their overall philosophy of sports. All young sports teams have participation from both boys and girls in equal measure. It's a completely different ideology from the British way. There's much more emphasis on taking part and enjoying it than on winning.
That's interesting. I thought it may have been that UK women are more self conscious than our US cousins. I have noticed that the average time in US mass participation races is slower than here but then if UK culture is less about taking part and more on winning then our races would attract faster runners and possibly dissuade others.