The Adventure Trail podcast, episode two: Valerie Lagarde talks gender diversity in trail running and how to fix it
Running is open to all, but still there is a massive imbalance in the number of men participating compared with women in trail running and ultra-distance racing
Why don’t women want to run? Trail running and ultramarathons have exploded in popularity but female participation still lags behind.
On this week’s podcast we discuss with Trail Hub organiser, runner, mother and teacher Valerie Lagarde the tricky topic of gender diversity on the trails.
Listen: The Adventure Trail podcast – Diversity in trail running
Ultramarathon finishers increased about 17-fold between 1995 and 2015, according to Ultrarunning magazine.
But female participation rates for races up to 80 kilometres are around 30 to 35 per cent, but for 100km distances and longer it drops to 25 per cent or below.
Hong Kong’s largest race in terms of numbers taking part, the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker, was just 22.2 per cent women.
Lagarde points the finger at advertising, lottery systems, socialising women at a young age and a lack of initiatives to account for pregnancy.