Sexism in running

I mentioned in a previous post (Run with the wind race report) that the choice of age groups for that event was inherently sexist (i.e. a 15 year Vets group for women, 10 year age group for men).

Well it occurred to me that I've been accepting a much worse example of sexism in the sport today without thinking about the unfairness of it all. Namely, the way that women aren't allowed to run the same distances in cross country racing.

The days when we worried about women's ovaries falling out if they over-exerted themselves are surely long over. We look back at the time when women weren't allowed to run the marathon, pole vault etc. with disbelief, and yet, apparently, cross country running is in some way too hard for women to be allowed to run the same distance as men.

Why on earth can't women be allowed to run in the same event at the same time as men over the same course? Maybe I'm missing something obvious but I'm willing to bet that in 10 years time (hopefully much sooner) we'll look back in incredulity at the present situation in the same way we look back at the ban on women running marathons etc.

I've started a thread on the Scottish Athletics forum (80% in favour of women being allowed to run the same distance as men) that you can view here. Rather disappointingly, none of the "Nay" voters has offered any explanation for their views which I'm genuinely interested to hear.

Feel free to vote or let me know your views. Maybe I'm missing something obvious but it seems unfair to me.