Images from the April 30, 2022 New York Times, “Nonbinary Runners Have Been Here the Whole Time: In the past year, road races have debuted a nonbinary category, typically with around two dozen or fewer such competitors at each event.”

Amid all the controversy over trans athletes, this inclusion in a sport that’s very gendered was heartening. As Zackary Harris, who placed second in the Brooklyn half-marathon is quoted in the article, “I felt a sense of pride seeing that at the very front, just behind us was more nonbinary people — representing and being out and proud at the race.”

The very nature of many sport competitions is not rooted in fairness… Taller people have an advantage at basketball, but there aren’t leagues for shorter vs. taller players – it’s oddly divided up by the gender binary.

It’s nice to see how running competitions are evolving to include the nonbinary runners who have always been there. And there are still challenges – not every race makes prizes available to nonbinary winners, and even during races where there were nonbinary categories competitors were repeatedly misgendered – but it’s a really interesting development as the debate over participation and fairness in sports goes on.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee