Women in Sport Week
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Conor Murphy | Mar 7 2025, 8:38am | It's Women in Sports Week. But the stats in the Irish Ultra Championship last year are not good reading... (Race - no of women runners/no of runners - %) Slí Chorcaí Ultra – 7/77 – 9% Maurice Mullins 50K – 38/285 - 13% Beara Way Ultra – 2/37 – 5% Glendalough Tucker Trail – 5/48 – 10% Wicklow Way Race - 8/88 – 9% If you do one thing this weekend, please listen to, read and consider the points made by Bethan Taylor-Swaine who spoke at the National Conference, and Munster Trail Runner Sophie Power, who broke the Malin to Mizen record. They speak of a range of issues from "Mum Guilt" to safety to period products at aid stations. Support groups like She Summits and She Races, and initiatives like Turlough Conway's women trail race series. And as ever...speak out, be an advocate or ally. |
| Conor Murphy | Mar 13 2025, 7:00am | It was suggested to me that the Kerry Way Ultra Lite sees much better numbers of women participants, so below I compare it with IMRA races of a similar distance... Slí Chorcaí Ultra '24 – 7/77 – 9% Maurice Mullins 50K '24– 38/285 - 13% Slí Chorcaí Ultra '24 – 9/65 - 14% Kerry Way Ultra Lite '23 - 48/159 - 30% Kerry Way Ultra Lite '24 - 48/172 - 28% Is there any obvious reason for the difference? Maybe IMRA could reach out to KWU and get some assistance and input? And contact Bethan Taylor-Swaine, Sophie Power, SheSummits, Sabrina Pace-Humphreys etc. |
| Peter O'Farrell | Mar 13 2025, 10:42am | 50% of all non runners volunteers at the Stranahely woods this year and last year are female. All credit to the women. And......speaking of Stranahely Woods......it's a great race......with finish line prize giving, the possibility of BBQ sausages if it's a fine day.........sign up now! It would be great to break into double digits on the female finishers after last's years 7 runners gave it their all. |
| Brendan Lawlor | Mar 13 2025, 10:57am | 100% of all IMRA Presidents for the past 6 years have been female .. and they were and are all great ...Go raibh maith agaibh go leir ! |
| Turlough Conway | Mar 13 2025, 3:41pm | A few more 100% ers coming up!!! Sun Apr 6 Sligo Women's Trail Series 1: Hazel Wood Sun Apr 13 Sligo Women's Trail Series 2: Slish Wood Sun Apr 27 Sligo Women's Trail Series 3: Union Wood |
| Brendan Lawlor | Mar 13 2025, 3:52pm | 100% of the contributors to this thread so far are NOT female..surely someone needs to do something about that soon... |
| Graham K. Bushe | Mar 13 2025, 4:54pm | looking at all the race results so far for 2025... (apologies for the formatting, pasted from my excel) Long Course Short Course Race F M %F %M F M %F %M Clonmel 38 109 26% 74% Wicklow Half 84 220 28% 72% Ballinaboola 22 60 27% 73% 3 3 50% 50% Annacurra 39 70 36% 64% 14 13 52% 48% Curragh Woods 12 59 17% 83% 3 2 60% 40% Lisvernane/Aherlow 25 69 27% 73% 4 3 57% 43% Sugarloaf Winter 55 116 32% 68% 12 12 50% 50% Dysart Woods 23 31 43% 57% 7 2 78% 22% Slí Chorcaí Half 36 68 35% 65% Trooperstown Winter 56 115 33% 67% 8 15 35% 65% Slí Chorcaí Ultra 9 56 14% 86% Bansha Woods 33 65 34% 66% 7 3 70% 30% Howth Winter 62 124 33% 67% 14 17 45% 55% Rahan Woods 31 64 33% 67% 6 2 75% 25% Carrick Winter 41 111 27% 73% 8 16 33% 67% Brockagh Burst 64 106 38% 62% 8 7 53% 47% Ballyhoura Winter Moonlight Dash 63 118 35% 65% Ballyhoura Winter Moonlight Challenge 41 164 20% 80% Corrin 14 52 21% 79% 7 3 70% 30% Bweeng Trail 38 71 35% 65% 8 11 42% 58% Average Long Course 30% Female 70% Male Average Short Course 55% Female 45% Male |
| Clare Sullivan | Mar 13 2025, 9:42pm | It's great to see more attention given to women's sport and I get that people's posts are well intentioned but supporting women in sport is not about supporting women to participate in sports / events that men like to participate in but about supporting women to participate in sports /events that are enjoyable for women. Graham's post is a good example, women often prefer shorter distances. I think IMRA already is quite supportive of women given the short course option and early start. Perhaps a short course option run on the day of an ultra might be something to consider... |
| Maggie Lawler | Mar 14 2025, 9:10am | A latrge study (5,010,730 results from 15,451 ultra running events) by Run Repeat in 2020 found 'There have never been more women in ultrarunning. 23% of participants are female, compared to just 14% 23 years ago.' The numbers that Conor showed 9-14% at IMRA ultras but not at at the KWU Lite 28%-30%. Maurice Mullins 6 years ago had about the same female participation as 2024 about 13%, so 6 years of women presidents hasnt changed that. Last year for IWD, senior IMRA committee member genuinely didnt know what the berriers to women being race directors and since some of those barriers are of a similar nature to those of uktra running, some questions need to be asked at an executive level. I'm sure there is no way of knowing for definite, but very likely all of the women who did participate were White. |
| Steven Pettigrew | Mar 14 2025, 10:38am | Looking at the KWU Lite numbers, it's a bit of a false equivalence to compare events like the Maurice Mullins to the Kerry Ultra. The KWU Lite is part of a much larger event. It's running alongside the 200km race, which spans 40 hours from 6 AM on Friday to 10 PM on Sunday. Unlike other races, this is a single major event held once a year, with the entire year dedicated to preparation, advertising, support, and logistics to make it happen. In reality, the event spans multiple days, beginning as early as Thursday, which creates a different dynamic compared to standalone races like Maurice Mullins. This means that KWU Lite runners have 7 hours to reach the 30km cut-off point and 13 hours to complete the full 58km course. The generous time limits make the event accessible to runners of all backgrounds, but this is only possible due to the scale and structure of the main event. |
| Steven Pettigrew | Mar 14 2025, 10:43am | Forgot to mention that Mullins 50k was €25 for an entry while the KWU Lite is €150 with no 'unwaged' option. |
| Maggie Lawler | Mar 14 2025, 11:28am | Hi Steven, I’m not aware of IMRA having an unwanted option. Myself and and others have brought this up and it wasn’t thought necessary. The price difference shows that people will pay for the appropriate cut off times and to be allowed use poles. |
| liz dwyer | Mar 14 2025, 11:47am | It’s great to see a post on women in sport being used to highlight women in sport…. Though you’d have to look through the digs at IMRA I guess to see it. We have some sensational female mountain runners in Ireland. Some who outright win races might I add. Women in sport are breaking barriers and inspiring the next generation with their incredible strength, resilience, and passion for the great outdoors. Let’s try to keep the right spirit going here, rather than trying to critique any one organisation. Constructive or not. Dont forget IMRA is volunteer led so ya know… offer help and volunteer get out on the hills :) |
| Steven Pettigrew | Mar 14 2025, 12:58pm | Maggie... it's interesting that you and your group pushed so hard for an unwaged option for IMRA, yet there’s no issue with the Kerry Ultra charging 500% more without one because there is a stat involved that suits your agenda. This lack of consistency proves that affordability and accessibility were never truly a priority. On cut-off times. Just so you're aware, MMU runners must cover 38km in 7 hours. KWU Lite runners must cover 32km in the same 7 hours. MMU has 2 aid stations before the 30km mark while Kerry has none specifically for Lite runners. I think the MMU is quite accessible. |
| Deirdre Galvin | Mar 14 2025, 1:00pm | I have never felt anything but welcomed and supported at an IMRA race. Indeed, if we are comparing it, as some are, to KWU, I would say that the level of overall support during IMRA races rates multiples higher. I think trying to create some quasi-feminist debate out of what is simply an indication of people's leisure time preferences is somewhat unnecessary. IMRA Abù! |
| nicola cleary | Mar 14 2025, 1:05pm | Here Here Liz. I think Clare and Graham have very good points. It shouldn't be a huge deal what distances women run once they are running and being supported doing so. As one of those women who do run longer distances, it is purely a choice for me to do so. I have time to train and do think IMRA as an organisation is very supportive of women. The WhatsApp groups that are set up for races, with help for recces etc don't distinguish between men and women and everyone is super helpful and supportive. I think women are at a disadvantage from a societal point where they are historically the main care giver in a family and with work etc, their time is precious! Also women don't tend to take on longer races unless they are 100% prepared. Men, might be a little different! |
| Joan Ryan | Mar 14 2025, 1:28pm | Agreeing with the other ladies on this post. I personally can only do the short races due to having young kids and there's nothing Imra or any organisation can change to that as women by nature have responsibilities. And when I have time to move up to longer distances I will be doing so with IMRA who price fairly compared to the the rip offs were charged for the likes of the Kerry Way Ultra. It's evident from the constant flooding of negative comments on every forum topic possible certain people want to just cause trouble and negativity towards IMRA Please stop with the negativity and let us enjoy the wonderful organisation that were lucky enough to have on our doorsteps |
| Conor Murphy | Mar 14 2025, 2:01pm | I think a number of posters here might need to read the netiquette policy and refrain from attacking posters and questioning motivation. It's a fairly straightforward point. IMRA has never had more than 14% women runners in the IUC. If people are annoyed about me pointing that out, I'm not sure what to say...it's stats, I didn't make up the figures. If people think that raises no issue or question at all, that's fair enough. But some advocates for women runners like Bethan Taylor-Swaine and Sophie Power have expressed surprise and concern about those stats. Liz, there are volunteers in every club, sport and organisation across the country. For my part I have gone out on the hills in IMRA races. I also set up a community with 4,000 across FaceBook and Insta that helped many start in the sport (many who have gone on to participate in, and even win, IMRA races!), helped many more make friends in the sport, I organised 150+ weekend outings, weekly meet ups across Munster, the Iveragh Traverse, helped organise the National Trail Running Conference (and in the context of this thread I'd encourage everyone to listen to Bethan Taylor-Swaine's contribution about the barriers faced by women), we've had Nav Skills and Women in Sport days, kept access open on routes that are now used in IMRA races, raised awareness about environmental issues from sponsorship by high carbon industries to use of public transport, and in the past year we have had some wonderful outings around the South West with runners from other countries, some in Direct Provision, and recently helped find accommodation for a Ukrainian runner and his family when they faced homelessness. I do have a pretty good idea of the concept of volunteering. So when you say offer help and get out on the hills, I kind of agree but would add we can do so much more than just going out on hills. Most importantly, when we see an issue, speak out...respectfully and civilly of course! |
| Maggie Lawler | Mar 14 2025, 2:11pm | Steven, you brought up the unwaged option as you thought it would suit your aganda, |
| David Power | Mar 14 2025, 2:11pm | These threads tease people...already I've typed messages, then "hit pause", took a breath and deleted them before getting in trouble. IMRA membership has 33% females and results showed 31% female finishers (see 2024 report from AGM). Yes it's not 50/50 and initiatives and amazing volunteers putting on events and encouraging friends or new faces will all help improve this into the future. Longer distance events in all sports have lower female participation, it's not just Kerry is better than everywhere else argument. We can all learn more - Athletics Ireland have some really interesting resources from last week, covering everything from juniors, health (periods and REDs), athlete development, coaching, officials. I attended the last webinar on officials/referees and it was excellent. https://www.athleticsireland.ie/get-involved/wis/women-in-sport-week/ I hear Enoch Burke is a good hill runner.... |
| Mick Hanney | Mar 14 2025, 2:49pm | Approaching 40% ladies entries for our race here on Sunday. Also seeing fantastic range of ages. What other sport would see youngsters from age 7 up to 80s. |
| Laura Flynn | Mar 14 2025, 3:41pm | As far as I can tell from the archive section on the homepage, my first IMRA race was the Sugarloaf 1994. 47 people ran, 5 of whom were women, so just over 10%. The cost of entry, as far as I remember, was IR£3, the equivalent of €3.80 today. It may have been the only IMRA race I did that year as I had no car and it was virtually impossible to get to the more remote locations without one. . I tell this story for 3 reasons:- Firstly, to demonstrate how far we’ve come in IMRA and Ireland in general in terms of women participating in sport and not just at the elite level. Yes, it’s a journey and we still have some way to go, but there’s generally a hugely positive attitude to it from men and women alike and from organisations like Sport Ireland. Secondly, to give IMRA credit for the low- cost model they’ve managed to maintain after all these years. If race entries were reasonable in 1994 they are more than reasonable today. I challenge anyone to find a cheaper race or event in the country, other than the excellent Parkrun. If others are will to pay an additional €100 plus for added benefits such as using poles in the KWU, then that’s a matter for them. IMRA is a different offering. Thirdly, to highlight the car-pool function on the website which allows people, such as I was 34 years ago, who don’t have a car or the wherewithal to travel to races, to participate. I don’t think I’ll get another 34 years out of it but I’m hopeful and confident that the IMRA set-up, with early starts and short courses, will enable me continue as long as I can. As Deirdre says, IMRA abú |
| Laura Flynn | Mar 14 2025, 4:00pm | I’ve just realised, it’s only 31 years.. phew! |
| Niall Corrigan | Mar 14 2025, 4:22pm | In response to the slight degree of KWU bashing in this thread mostly on the cost issue, IMRA enjoys a massive economy of scale in relation to one major cost in particular, insurance. The one woman powerhouse that is Eileen Daly publishes the accounts of the KWU every year if you want to know where the entrance fee goes. Please don’t accuse independent race organisers of being rip off merchants without considering the extras involved in being independent. |
| Steven Pettigrew | Mar 14 2025, 4:33pm | I agree, Niall. I only referenced the KWU fee in my post to point out the flaws and inconsistencies in the argument. I've happily paid the entrance fee (and the extras) for 4 years in a row. Since we're talking about women in sport, there's not many better or more committed to the Irish ultra scene than Eileen. |
| Andrew Moore | Mar 14 2025, 4:43pm | I work with quite a few female trail runners who still haven't done an IMRA event Just one of the feedback reasons is the ease of mind and organisation of being able to sign up for a race now. And I wouldn't say this is a major reason, but I have feedback sometimes from our female runners for longer ultra that they can sign up to the Wicklow Ecotrail and Kerry Ultra today, but to sign up for a longer IMRA event you have to wait until it opens. This wouldn't be an only female issue, but I've had the feedback enough to mention it here. I am not saying this is a solution, but perhaps a barrier to entry for people? |
| Conor Murphy | Mar 14 2025, 4:54pm | Thanks to everyone for your contributions so far. Once debate is civil, it can be very healthy, especially when we can surely agree that stats like 5% and 9% are not good, so a debate is needed. Or to borrow Joan's references to negativity, we can all agree that the low numbers of women in IMRA ultras is a real negative, and suggesting how we can improve it is very positive. As Laura says "we still have some way to go" and we won't get there by staying silent and either ignoring the stats or pretending they are acceptable. The only point that lost me was David's reference to the Burkes. You might clarify that one, lest people think you are comparing advocates for women in running to the Burke family (which I'm sure was not meant)! |
| Diane McConnell | Mar 15 2025, 3:40pm | Not sure I can add anything statistical or academic. But this woman has over the last few years seen the odd photo taken at an IMRA event of some of my fellow TT buddies. The photos have always looked epic and drew me in for the scenery and the 'something different to road races' aspect (And I am not neccessarily making any reference to the super fit IMRA mountain goats in those photos!) I have commented a few times to the men in those photos how it looks so amazing running up those terrains with the views, but I don't think my level (of ability and pace) would suit IMRA. Every time I have said this, those same guys would say that I should definitely do IMRA and that ultimately the barriers that I thought excluded me, don't exist. They encouraged me to give it a try. So eventually I did, so a shout out and thank you to those men for their encouragement :) For balance, I did go alongside some women TT/ IMRA runners for morale support and of course car pooling. I went initially for the epic photos of running over summits, but I have stayed because of the atmosphere created by the men and women around me. Since my first IMRA last June '24 to last nights night race, I am definitely sold. Although for €7 I feel like its more of a steal.. I have done about 10 IMRA and 1 volunteer so far and while I have two working legs/ankles, rainproof jacket and a head torch, I will continue to run IMRA. I appreciate that we want to encourage more women to be part of and participate in Sport. But for me, being part of a volunteer led, like minded group at an IMRA start line is a win. Regardless of gender. And the more the merrier, that can, and want to be there. |
| Laura Flynn | Mar 16 2025, 10:54pm | As the current moderator for the IMRA forum, I’d like to remind everyone once again of our Netiquette policy which you will find in the Constitution link on the homepage. Amongst other things, the policy allows for anyone who might have an issue with a particular post to contact the moderator directly who will review the post in the context of the policy. As members we have responsibility to each other and to any other persons or bodies that might be referred to in any post, to be respectful and fair at all times and to avoid personal comment. There is of course also the option of individual posters clarifying or correcting a post which may have been unfair, overly personal or misconstrued. I would urge members to avail of this option where appropriate. I would also remind members to refrain from passing comments on the thread on the appropriateness or otherwise of other people‘s posts, with reference to the Netiquette policy, but rather to go through the proper channels if they have any issue. Hopefully we can continue to use the forum as it was intended for things such as seeking advice on events or equipment, to relay news and to engage in healthy, respectful and factual discussion about IMRA and/or related matters. The word respectful is crucial and in particular in the context of the Executive committee and you will see that this is referred to specifically in the Netiquette policy and for very good reason. It is important, in the spirit of the Netiquette policy, that we all avoid using emotive language, pejorative terms, or being critical of decisions or actions of any of our members and in particular of current or past committees. There are other forums for these matters to be dealt with. For instance, the committee can be contacted directly (their contact details are available on the website) or members can attend the AGM to voice any ideas or concerns that they might have. |
| Sorcha Kearney | Mar 18 2025, 11:47am | I started running IMRA races about 2 years ago to rediscover the joy of running after an extended lay-off from road running. My intention at the time was merely to have some fun while regaining fitness for cross country and road running. The uncompetitive, generous and welcoming attitude which greeted me was entirely unfamiliar. I was sceptical when assured I would turn my back on road running, but a year later I had to admit defeat- or liberation! I have tried one ultra so far in the Knockmealdowns which was tough, mental and amazing! I have a couple more planned this year. I am only able to contemplate this for two reasons: one, my children are now adult so I can afford long training days away from home. Two, and far more importantly, the men of IMRA have consistently gone above and beyond to introduce me to the sport, to make me feel safe and supported in wild places, and to always call me back when I wander off course. I would never have been able to indulge in the pure joy mountain and trail endurance running has afforded me when my girls were younger. I assume that’s pretty much the experience of many of my fellow lady runners. The fact that all races are so affordable compared to commercial enterprises is also a major reason why I personally, coming from a single income household, can continue to explore this brave new world. |
| Conor Murphy | Mar 26 2025, 5:03pm | David, people have messaged me to say the Enoch Burke comment was a reference to me. And that you were playing to a gallery in IMRA who use nicknames for me. I don't want to derail the thread, I don't want to add to Laura's work, I have asked her to simply pass my email address to you and you can come back to me directly, thanks. My stats were picked up by Trail Criú, She Summits, Sophie Power, Bethan Taylor-Swaine, noted as "stark" in an article in Trail Running Ireland, and KWU has said participation in the KWU Lite this year stands at 41%. I made constructive proposals in the first 2 posts above, Bethan and Sophie have written extensively on the issues women face, Bethan was a speaker at Trail Criú's National Conference. Could IMRA reach out and ask them and/or Trail Criú for some input? |
