PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Marathon requires elite nonbinary runners to compete in either the men’s or women’s category for prize money. Meaning, they essentially have to misgender themself if they want to participate.
On Saturday, as Philadelphia Marathon organizers kicked off training season for November's 26.2-mile race throughout the city, more than two dozen demonstrators stood on the Art Museum steps calling for a separate category with equal prize money.
Non-elite categories for nonbinary runners were added to the Philadelphia Marathon in 2022.
Josh Fernandez, executive chair of the running group Queer Run, says the effort falls short for fast runners who identify as genderqueer.
“One of the hardest things to be in this world is your authentic self, especially if you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community,” Fernandez said.
"The Philadelphia running community.... We may get competitive with each other at things like the 26x1 relay… We all show up for each other."
CC Tellez, founder of the LGBTQ running club Lez Run, has been asking Philadelphia Marathon to create a nonbinary division since Philadelphia Distance Run instituted one in 2021.
"Equal prize money. Nonbinary elite runners are fast. They're competitive. They deserve to be prized for their winnings. And right now, they don't have the opportunity to do that unless they misgender themselves and run under the women's or men's division,” Tellez said.
For last year’s race, Philadelphia Marathon said the City of Philadelphia “followed policies of the national governing body USA Track and Field, which does not currently recognize a separate division for elite nonbinary runners.”
They added that, under that policy, prize money would be awarded to elite nonbinary athletes if they placed in the top 5 men’s or women’s divisions.
“We recognize all winners by their identified gender,” read a statement on their website. “The city has instituted changes to improve gender inclusion in its registration and award recognition processes.”
The organization says the city will launch a community engagement process this year to “consider potential Philadelphia-specific changes to future Philadelphia Marathon Weekend Races to insure [their] continued commitment to inclusion.”
The Chicago, New York, Boston, London and Berlin marathons have nonbinary divisions.