Equal Distance for Cross-Country Athletes in Ontario

       In running competitions women run the same distances as men in track events and road races. However, in cross country races women run shorter distances. It has been this way for numerous years because people believe that men are physically superior to women. A women’s motivation is also called into question, as there is a concern that fewer females will want to partake in cross country races as it gets more challenging. Victoria Coates, who runs for Canada’s national cross country team responds to these arguments by stating that “if we keep expecting less from girls and women, we are going to keep achieving less”.  In Ontario, the Queen’s University cross country coach, Steve Boyd, is also an avid supporter for equality among men and women’s race distances. Queens hosted a race in 2016 that became the first ever university cross country race in North America where both men and women ran the same distance. Boyd fiercely believes equalizing the distances is best for the sport and continues to fight for women’s equality in athletics. When women participate in races that are shorter distances than men at a young age, it becomes normalized. Male and female athletes are not viewed as equal, which in turn affects their performance. Women have accepted inequality in cross country events which must be changed.

            As a current team member of Laurier’s cross country team I have experienced this inequality first hand as women’s races are 6km and men’s races are 10km. For the first time in history Ontario University Athletics (OUA) cross-country coaches have voted to move the women’s race distance to 8K in 2017 and 2018. Although the distance has increased for women there is still a gap which is intended to be closed by further increasing the women’s distance to equal the men’s. Rather than increasing the women’s distance by almost double, I believe a more reasonable compromise would be to average the distances and meet in the middle at 8km.  I feel that if cross country race distances were equal, the assumption that one gender is superior to the other would disappear and women and men would be seen as equals.