How women runners debunked myths about the sport and made running their own

[sl8]

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/06/22/nx-s1-5015728/women-running-myths-debunk-health-sport

How women runners debunked myths about the sport and made running their own

JUNE 22, 20247:00 AM ET
By Maya Silver



Women runners at the start of the 2024 Boston Marathon. Women couldn't officially compete in this race until 1972.
David L. Ryan/Boston Globe/Getty Images

Myths about women in sport date back at least to the dawn of the Olympics 2,800 years ago, when women weren’t allowed to compete. These myths “remain hard to shake,” according to sports journalist Maggie Mertens. For instance, it wasn't until 1972 that women were allowed to run in the Boston Marathon — it was considered too long and grueling for them physiologically.

In her new book, Better Faster Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women (released June 18), Mertens explores misconceptions about female athletes — and how through running, women have disproved these myths.

Running, says Mertens, “has been used for years and years and years to define women as being lesser than men.” This has caused women to receive less compensation, access, health support and recognition than their male peers in sport.

[...]

Here are eight ways the world has misjudged women runners and how they’ve fought to make the sport their own.

[...]

[Farmer-Rick]

1. Oh wow

You got to read the 8 ways the world has misjudged women runners. It sure blew up the stereotypes I had.

I had no idea that most of the crap about women being slower than men....is just that, crap.

Women are just seconds away from obtain fastest runner records.....and no, it's not about testosterone levels.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Well, For One Thing, Most Of The Myths Are Plain Stupid

It's obvious that running is not bad for anybody health.
I do quibble with the "women aren't slower" myth though.
1 second in the hundred meters is a lot! It's about 34 feet at the finish line. And 25 seconds in the mile is also huge. It's nearly half a lap.
In the Marathon, the delta in the world records is nearly 12 minutes. That's 5% of the time, which would be about 1⅓ miles.
Now, a lot of that has to do with height & length. There a few 5'2" world class make runners, but many women are in the 5'2" to 5'4" range. There are few world class women runners at 6'3". But, lot's of men.
If you have the musculature and twitchiness to be fast, having longer legs is an advantage.
So, women are slower than men, but it's not about testosterone, it's more likely about height.
Other than that, the rest of the article makes obvious sense.

[Farmer-Rick]

6. Well the actual myth that the writer posted

Was "One of those stereotypes is that women are simply, under any circumstances, slower than men."

I was just trying to simplify the myth. Perhaps, I oversimplified. As perhaps did the writer of the book review/interview.

They aren't stupid.

I think, I would like to read the book before I judge if it's accurate or not.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. The Raw Numbers Do Not Support Accuracy

Reading the book won't change the raw data.
The women are still fantastic runners no matter what.
And, the physiology myths were just rooted in bias & stupidity. I don't need to read the book to know those were just dumb. Of course they're going to be debunked. They were nonsense in the first place.

[Farmer-Rick]

10. Not much "raw" data was in the NPR article

Until you read the book, you just won't know.

You obviously are quick to belittle what you don't know.

I remember growing up in the 60s and 70s and hearing about how dangerous it was for women to do aerobics exercises before they became popular. It will make you look like a man. It will prevent you from getting pregnant etc....

The requirement for women athletes to remain excessively thin while performing sports was, and still is, a deadly combination.

So no the myths may sound silly to you but they were definitely pushed as being based in fact.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. You Read Nothing I Wrote

I said the myths were stupid, at least 3 times.
Now you're lecturing me by telling me why they were stupid.
And, the speed NUMBERS are irrefutable.
Plus, I said they are fantastic athletes, and you say I'm belittling? That's clear evidence you didn't read anything I wrote.
If you can't do better than that, I'm done with the discussion.

[stopdiggin]

12. Yeah. This is going nowhere - fast. -(nt)-

[stopdiggin]

2. interesting. but, dang, have to admit I was expecting a lot more

(in the way of solid information, facts ..)

8. Women with high testosterone levels have an unfair advantage
and then the article does nothing to debunk that premise - but goes on to talk about the history of sex testing in women's sport

“I have come across no examples of a man pretending to be a woman to win a woman’s sporting competition. Zero,” Mertens writes. Yet from 1968 to 1999, “more than 10,000 women were sex tested at the Olympics.”

The reality is that testosterone levels fluctuate over the course of a person’s life. For example, men’s levels drop when they care for babies, while women’s actually increase during pregnancy.

“Why do we ignore that these levels can change and that hormones aren’t binary?” Mertens asks. Regardless of the answer to that question, Mertens’ research showcases the absurd amount of time and resources we’ve dumped into verifying the sex of female runners — resources that could have been spent supporting the advance of women in sport.

No science? No comparative data?

2. Women are slower than men
with this following

In many races, the speed gaps are shrinking. According to today’s world records, women run a 25-second slower mile than men, and women are only one second shy of men in the 100-meter. In the 2023 Boston Marathon, Hellen Obiri, the winner of the women’s division, finished ahead of more than a third of the pro men. And in ultrarunning, women have proved that they can, in fact, outpace men.

Which, with the excepting of ultras - illustrates really significant gaps that remain - even if judged by and allowing those gaps narrowing over time. (25 seconds in a mile is a yawning chasm .. )

[ProfessorGAC]

4. See My Post #3

We agree completely on Myth 2.

[stopdiggin]

5. we actually agree on virtually everything you posted

Last edited Sat Jun 22, 2024, 01:09 PM - Edit history (1)

And - - the whole time I was writing my response - I was desperately hoping it NOT be taken as an attack on women's sports and/or competition. Nothing but admiration. And none of them would have any trouble absolutely trouncing little old me! (in virtually any field or competition!)

And, also right - the bigger take-away from the article - was just how much abject nonsense most of the original myths amounted to. Just plain stupid!

[ProfessorGAC]

7. 10 Seconds In The 100 Meters Is F'n Fast!

In HS, a rival school had a guy running a 9.6 100 YARD. He blew everyone away.
He was no faster than the world class women sprinters.
Geez, I ran a 4:25 mile in my sophomore year, and I'd have lost to these women by over a hundred yards. And, I wasn't slow!
They are all phenomenal athletes. And, the work it takes to get to world-class is admirable, and gender doesn't matter on that at all.

[Farmer-Rick]

9. I think if you read the book

You may find the information you are looking for.

This was just NPR's reporting.

[stopdiggin]

13. yes. and like I said, 'interesting' - but also kind of disappointing

I thought they could have done a lot more in terms of actually refuting ....

What they did do a pretty good job of - was in pointing out a lot of patently ridiculous (and frankly toxic) nonsense that has prevailed through the years.