12.46 miles felt wonderful. It was a beautiful morning and my splits were consistent and strong. The temperature was a gorgeous 51 degrees and I treasured the warm air, dark skies transitioning to light and the smells of summer. Reflecting on my training and future races, I am excited about my progress. As an almost 48 year old woman, I can run some competative times. I have won overall female a couple of races and have been able to podium in my age group on almost every other race. With all of my training, though, there is an inherent realization that my male runner friends will usually beat me. That is not always the case, but as a general rule they are stronger and faster. I don't view this as a negative, it is simply a statement of fact and a reason why there are mens and womens divisions for almost all athletics. Physically and biologically men and women are created differently.
In 1988 I watched in awe as Florence Griffith Joyner become the fastest woman in the world setting new world records in the 100m and 200m dash. As an aspiring high school sprinter I remember following her career; she worked hard, was beautiful and very flamboyant with crazy running outfits, long painted nails and flowing hair. Her dedication was on point and she made setting new women's world records look easy. 30 years later her 100m record of 10.49 seconds and 200m record at 21.34 seconds are still unbroken. In the same vein Marita Koch set the 400m women's record in 1985 at 47.60 seconds, a 33 year old standing record. The men's records are unequivically faster; Usain Bolt holds the 100m and 200m men's records at 9.58 and 19.19 seconds. Wayde Van Niekerk holds the 400m at 43.03 seconds. The men's records range from almost a full second to over 4 seconds faster than the women's records.
To put it further into perspective, when comparing the women's standing world record times, set by professional, olympic athletes, to 2018 national high school boys times, the records don't even rank in the top 50. FloJo's 10.49-100m, would have placed her roughly 94th this year. Her 21.34-200m time would have her roughly tied for 114th and Marita's 400m world record time would have her roughly tied for 70th in the nation.
As a sprinter turned distance runner I have watched the Boston Marathon qualifying times with interest. For men in my age group, 45 - 49 the BQ time is 3:25 and for women in that same group it is 3:55; 30 minutes slower than the men's time. The qualifying time for the youngest female age group, 18 - 34 is 3:35, still 10 minutes slower than a man who is 31 to 15 years older. Indisputable proof that women and men are physically and biologically different.
In 2017 at the Connecticut CIAC State Outdoor Championship Track meet the 100m and 200m were won by a 15 year old transgender female who made the decision to compete in April of that year. In 2018 the 100m, 200m and 400m were won by a transgender sophomore who had previously competed on the boys track and field teams. The 2018 winning times for those events broke the standing Connecticut girls state records. In both instances neither athlete, at the time of their state championship wins, had begun any hormone treatment. In fact one athlete was cautious about hormone treatments, concerned it would slow her times down. While identifying as females they were competing with the nearly post-pubescent, biological body of a 15 and 16 year old male. In a dangerous precedent, Connecticut High School Association allows transgender athletes to compete on the teams they identify with, without hormone treatments, therapy or sex re-assignment surgery. School records simply need to reflect the change in gender.
Reflecting on all of this my heart worries for the future of women's athletics. I think of the amazing girl athletes that have competed on the track team with my boys for the last several years. In my eyes it would be unfair for my boys to compete in the same races as the girls, even if they identified as being female. My youngest, who was a freshman this year, qualified for state in the boys 4x400 meter relay, but not the open 100m, 200m and 400m. His times were not fast enough to compete in those boys events at state. If he were a transgender female he would have qualified for all three events and had the opportunity to be a state champion as a freshman. Unfortunately it's not as simple as saying if they identify as a female they should be able to compete as a female.
Numerous collegiate, professional and olympic athletes have been stripped of titles for giving themselves an unfair advantage in competition. In fact there is question surrounding the 400m world record set by Marita Koch. Her record was set during a time when Germany and Russia were known for providing performance enhancing drugs to their athletes. Allowing an athlete, who is biologically male, to compete in women's athletics is an unfair advantage.
Women and young girls competing in athletics throughout junior high, high school, college, and truly at any age, have the most to lose as transgender athletes continue to enter the playing field. In an already difficult arena, the biological difference, even after hormone treatments, of a transgender female provides an extreme advantage in athletics. In a hasty effort to provide inclusion for these athletes, programs such as Connecticut's, with their dangerous precedent, risk alienating the majority of female athletes across the country. It is a difficult climate and the perfect solution will not be simple or quickly discovered, but it needs to be approached with logical, clear reasoning, understanding of the true biological differences between males and females and the lasting impact on not only the transgender athlete, but all female athletes.
