Athletes Compete In First-Ever ‘Non-Binary’ Division At Boston Marathon

Athletes were able to compete at the 2023 Boston Marathon in a newly made non-binary division Monday morning, according to the Boston Athletic Association registration website.

The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) announced in September 2022 that it would permit athletes who identify as non-binary to register in a separate division for the race, according to the Associated Press. The 2023 race, which kicked off on Monday, marks the first time in its 127-year history that athletes can compete in a division other than those designated for men and women, according to CBS Boston.

“The Boston Athletic Association is currently working on expanding opportunities for non-binary athletes at our events, including the upcoming 2023 Boston Marathon,” the registration website reads. “While we do not currently have qualifying standards for non-binary athletes, we are working on ways non-binary participants are accepted into the event.”

The BAA will use Monday’s event to “learn and grow together,” it wrote on its website. The qualifying times for non-binary athletes were selected because “they are inclusive of the qualifying times for the two existing divisions.”

The time qualifications for the non-binary division mirrors the qualifying times for women runners, according to the BAA website. Non-binary and women runners aged 18-34 are required to complete the 26.2 mile course in 3 hours and 30 minutes to score a qualifying time, while the equivalent time in the men’s qualifying bracket is 3 hours.

Applicants were selected for entry based on their submitted qualifying time and the event’s field size limit, according to the BAA. The BAA will update the non-binary qualifying times for future races.

The number of non-binary athletes competing on Monday is far fewer than those competing in the men and women’s divisions, according to Abbott World Marathon Majors. Monday’s race featured “7,272 men, 12,940 women, 27 non-binary entrants.”

Five of the six World Marathon Majors offer a non-binary division, according to Runners World. The races include Chicago, New York, Boston, London and Berlin.

New York became the first major marathon to award prize money in the non-binary division during its 2022 race, Runners World reported.

BAA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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