Siân Longthorpe’s record breaking time of 18 minutes and 53 seconds in the Porthcawl Parkrun highlights all that is wrong with a policy that allows runners to self-declare their sex and then pick up records and awards.
Longthorpe finished the race over a minute ahead of Anneliese Loveluck, according to the Parkrun website. But it is Loveluck’s name that we should remember. She appears to have set the fastest time in that race for a biological female – someone who was born as a girl and who went through female puberty. Her experience in life has been rather different to mine and Longthorpe’s. Like me, Longthorpe is a ‘transwoman’. We are male – our bodies developed differently. And – on average – male bodies can be propelled faster around a 5 km course than female bodies.
In Parkrun’s world a woman is anyone who says they are a woman.
Everybody knows this is true. Indeed, it is the reason why separate categories are kept for men and women.
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