Cross Country Equality

PAUL HALFORD LOOKS AT THE DIFFERING DISTANCES ON THE CROSS COUNTRY SCENE

- Paul Halford

THE DEBATE around equalising the distances for men and women in cross country was raised again last week when the English Cross Country Association (ECCA) published results of its survey into the issue.

Out of 244 questioned at the English National at Parliament Hill in February, 47.9% (of which 50.4% were female and 49.6% were male) replied “yes” to the question “Do you think that senior men and senior women should run the same distance at the National Cross Country Championships”. Those that replied “no” totalled 52.1% (of which 66.9% female and 33.1% male) (News, p26).

All this was in response to an online petition campaigning for equality started in January by London runner Maud Hodson. It has so far gained more than 2500 signatories after quickly garnering much attention from the press and leading personalities in the running world.

Former world cross-country champion Paula Radcliffe entered the debate on Twitter, writing: “Distances are guidelines. If the course is an excellent XC course & 8.63km or 9.13km, both are ok. It’s about the racing and the nature of the course. Some will suit some more than others that’s cross country. Men and women can race the same course.”

In a separate earlier post, Radcliffe questioned why the focus was on female runners moving up in distance, putting forward the argument instead that men could come down in how far they go instead.

“Cross country isn’t actually about the distance, it’s about quality racing over cross country,” she added. “Cross country has enough issues we need to work on without getting sidetracked. And why not change men’s to women’s distance if obsessed with ‘equality’?