It’s not ‘right wingers’ who turned Parkrun into a trans battleground

The Parkrun saga over times for transgender runners staggers on, but the organisation has only itself to blame. For want of a clear policy on sex and gender, Parkrun seems to have upset everyone. Last week, at least one event director quit as the company erased its run records wholesale in what looked like a knee-jerk reaction to a campaign against Parkrun’s view that competitors could self-declare their gender.

This is a fuss that never needed to happen but – like too many other organisations – Parkrun abandoned biological reality when it allowed everyone to choose their sex when it came to their times. Perhaps it imagined that there would be no real downsides and – besides – ‘it’s only a bit of fun, anyway’? But women were right to be furious when it turned out that biological males were taking records from women. Even those finishing halfway down the field push the remaining women one place down in their own sex category.

One thing is clear. Whatever the Guardian might claim, this is not the work of right wingers intent on making Parkrun a battleground for trans people. That sort of hyperbole helps nobody, and it’s just not true. It’s not ‘right wing’ to understand the material reality of biological sex. Indeed, these policy failures across society have come about under a Tory government. Nor must it be forgotten that it was a Conservative Prime Minister – Theresa May – who pledged to introduce changes that would allow people to change their gender without medical checks.

The answer to Parkrun’s problem is simple. Competitors should be instructed to enter their sex and the date of birth shown on their birth certificate or leave the boxes blank. Yes, it would be unfeasible for volunteers to sift through all this data, but the website could add a note to say that anyone found to be supplying false information could have their data deleted. Parkrun records broken down by sex and age could then be restored; if a dispute arose, an uploaded copy of a birth certificate would surely settle it.

I accept that this approach would not please everyone. Around 6,000 trans people in the UK have had their birth certificates updated to show their preferred gender, so the female category would not be watertight. But 6,000 is a lot less than the estimated trans population of ‘200,000 to 500,000’ people. Any further challenge from women’s rights campaigners could be referred to the government to deal with, perhaps as part of a wider review into gender recognition and the impact on women’s services and women’s sport. Any policy needs to be practical and workable; it’s simply not possible for Parkrun to check everyone’s biological sex at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

Trans people would have nothing to worry about from this suggestion. Parkrun allows everyone to ‘prefer not to say’ when registering their ‘gender’. All Parkrun needs to do is replace ‘gender’ with ‘sex’; anyone who does not wish to be included within their own sex class can simply withhold that information. They would still be able to run with everyone else, and could still aim to win a race and have that achievement recorded. Those with my athletic prowess would still be able to take delight in coming 499^th overall instead of 500^th.

Parkrun’s appeal is that it is for everyone. Yes, it is a bit of fun – though when watching my sons battle for a top 20 finish in under 20 minutes the competitive side becomes all too clear. My role has generally been holding their coats, but if I staggered around after them, I’d enter as a veteran male. It’s only right and – what’s more – there are men to beat, even at my level.