New York Marathon

During a recent conversation with New York City Marathon's media relations guru Sarah Hunninghake, some interesting information was shared. There is no separate race for men and women, the women's race simply begins 30 minutes before the men. In the nine years she has worked with the marathon, she is not aware of any gender tests being issued. In fact she is unaware of any such test being administered since the race's origin in1970.

When asked if uni sexuality would be basis for disqualification, Sarah stated that there are more than 43,000 participants in the amateur race every year, which would render identifying unisex individuals nearly impossible. Those who race in the professional race and are eligible to receive prize money are invited by marathon organizers, so the likelihood of a reputable runner being identified and uni sexed is highly unlikely.

Think you know enough about identifying gender? Think again, visit: http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/gendertest/gendertest.html for more information.

--Spencer

Chicago Marathon says:

I contacted the office for the Chicago marathon via email and they replied to me this:
             "All enrolling participants are allowed to run our race. In the event that a runner's performance entitles his or her to recognition or prize money, the Chicago Marathon adheres to USATF (USA Track and Field) and IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) rules."

              So sounds to me like if a person who was intersex signed up to compete, they would get the chance to run, but if they win, they may not get a prize if questioned about their gender.

--Brooke