Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. – Nelson Mandala
Became a runner over a half century ago; as is my nature, I was slow to start. But there were zero women in some of those early races. Nina Kuscik made Boston official in ’71 – she might’ve been my inspiration – and a couple of years later I considered myself the 14th-ranked woman marathoner in the world. I kept this a secret – mostly – and continued to use the pronouns “dude” and “sir” in public.
And something that doesn’t get talked about much by the old men of that era – running was infinitely better the moment competition went co-ed.
Remember chasing, sometimes passing, the likes of Nina and Miki Gorman and Jackie Hansen. They were little and tough as nails and I understood them as athletes.
I had more trouble with the introduction of the wheelchair division of major road races.
On April 21, 1975, Bob Hall a 24-year-old Belmont, Massachusetts native made history by being the first officially recognized athlete to race the entire course of the Boston Marathon in a wheelchair. He was promised an official race certificate if he completed the race in less than three hours by race director, Will Cloney. Hall finished the race in two hours, 58 minutes with a full two minutes to spare.
I wasn’t a fan of the idea, race already too big.
And I distinctly remember standing next to Bob at a VIP affair and thinking it weird he was standing next to me. Standing.
Next thing you know the wheelchair division is on equal footing, so to speak, with the men’s division and the women’s division.
Whatever. I understand I don’t always understand and – most often – it really has nothing to do with me.
By Lauren Rowello for The New York Times April 30, 2022, 9:00 a.m. ET
Photographs by Hilary Swift
As a middle-distance runner for Columbia University, Jacob Caswell did not feel like they had space to be themself.
Because collegiate track and field events include only men’s and women’s divisions, Caswell, who is nonbinary, competed in men’s races. But they said they felt constrained by gender norms as an N.C.A.A. athlete, unable to question their gender identity or explore self-expression without risking their place on a team.
Road racing is now creating intentional space for runners like Caswell. In late March, Caswell ran the New York City Half Marathon in a new category for nonbinary runners that included 21 entrants. And on April 24, Caswell entered the Brooklyn Marathon — their first marathon — and broke the tape to win the nonbinary division.
“Being able to not even win but just compete as yourself, it’s just been freeing,” Caswell said.
Over the past year, road races across the United States have debuted a nonbinary category, typically with around two dozen or fewer such competitors at each event. Although political debates have led to Republican-backed state laws to restrict transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ and women’s competitions, there has been little discussion about how nonbinary athletes can or should compete in gender-segregated sports.
The nonbinary category in races has not drawn as much public controversy. Most nonbinary runners go unnoticed on race day, running alongside tens of thousands of other amateur competitors. But for many participants, the ability to select a descriptor more accurate than “male” or “female” when registering for a race makes them feel more visible and respected.
Being around transgender and gender-nonconforming runners, Caswell said, “helps me both compete athletically and live more authentically.”
The small turnouts are reminiscent of women’s marathoning a half-century ago. In 1970, there were about 20 known female marathoners in the world, and, in 1972, the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the Boston Marathon, viewed recording women’s times as “very much an experiment.” Later that year, only six women ran in the New York City Marathon as its first official racers in the women’s category. The race’s first nonbinary field included 16 runners in November 2021.
This year’s Brooklyn Marathon and Half Marathon, organized by New York City Runs, had what was most likely the largest nonbinary field to date with 82 finishers in the division.
“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,” said Zackary Harris, who placed second in the half-marathon.
For runners, like Harris, who led their fields, the races also offered an opportunity to win prize money.
In September, the Philadelphia Distance Run became the first organization to offer equal prize money to nonbinary athletes. It was an easy decision, said Ross Martinson, one of the event’s organizers. “We want to have a competitive race and get the best nonbinary runners out there,” he explained.
Last week, New York City Runs gave competitors in every category equal payouts. In the marathon, Hirut Guangul won the women’s race with a time of 2 hours 36 minutes and 20 seconds, Aaron Mora won the men’s race in 2:27:46 and Caswell won the nonbinary race in 2:35:17. In the half-marathon, Lily Anderson won the women’s race with a time of 1:18, Teshome Asfaha won the men’s race in 1:01:47 and Winter Parts won the nonbinary race with a time of 1:12:48. All six runners claimed a cash prize of $5,000.
Few major marathons, which invite the world’s fastest athletes to compete, have made these changes to welcome nonbinary runners in their amateur ranks, and none have incorporated an elite nonbinary field. In March, for example, New York Road Runners offered cash prizes for the top eight amateurs in all three gender categories of the New York City Half Marathon. But since N.Y.R.R.’s elite divisions are invitational and include only men’s and women’s races, the biggest prize purse — $20,000 for top elite finishers — did not extend to the nonbinary amateur field.
And while last fall’s New York City Marathon — which included prize purses in the six figures — allowed runners to register as nonbinary, none of the openly nonbinary finishers were eligible for prizes.
Despite the efforts at inclusivity, a variety of questions and concerns about equity linger. Gender-nonconforming racers have said they felt a lack of recognition for their accomplishments and a lack of attention to their safety and comfort on race day.
Both Caswell and Harris were continually misgendered by race announcers and officials during the Brooklyn Marathon — at the starting line, at the finish and at the awards ceremony. “It was so comically ironic that here we are really trying to celebrate the inclusion of nonbinary runners and they’re doing the exact opposite of that,” Harris said.
Steve Lastoe, the founder of New York City Runs, acknowledged there was more work to be done. And Caswell is eager to help improve experiences for trans and nonbinary runners. They are now forming a committee with Front Runners, a group for L.G.B.T.Q. runners, with hopes of collaborating with race organizers to address these and other issues before future events.
“Nonbinary runners have been here this whole time,” Harris said. “We’ve been forced to run in categories that don’t match our gender identities, and now we’re seeing a shift in sports to actually recognize us.”
Columbia University 2019-20 Track and Field Roster
JACOB CASWELL
POSITION Middle Distance
CLASS Senior
HOMETOWN Berlin, Wis.
HIGH SCHOOL Berlin
SCHOOL Columbia College
MAJOR Biological Sciences
Biography
2019-20 (Senior): (XC) Clocked a personal record time of 26:58.4 (205th) in the 8K at the Princeton Cross Country Invitational (Oct. 19). (Indoor) Ran the opening leg on the 4×800-Meter Relay squad that opened the season with a first place time of 7:47.74 at the Fastrack Season Opener (Dec. 6) … Posted a sixth place finish in the 800-Meter Run at the Villanova Invitational (Feb. 1) with a time of 1:53.05 … Crossed the line in second place with a time of 1:52.49 in the 800m at the Armory Last Chance (Feb. 21) … Carried the second leg of the 4x800m Relay that came in second place at Heps with a time of 7:36.16. (Outdoor) Season canceled.
2018-19 (Junior): (XC) Completed the 6K in a personal best time of 20:33.6 at the Marist Season Opener (Sept. 1). (Indoor) Had seven top 10 finishes and five top five finishes … A member of the 4×800-Meter Relay team that finished first in 7:40.49 at the Fastrack Metro Season Opener (Dec. 1) … Racked up two top five finishes at the Dartmouth-Yale-Columbia (Jan. 18) meet, finishing fifth in the 800m (1:56.92) and was a part of the 4x800m Relay team that came in fourth with a time of 7:56.45 … Member of the Distance Melody Relay team that came in second (9:54.92) at the IC4A/ECAC Indoor Track & field Championships (Mar. 1-3). (Outdoor) Finished inside the top 10 with an eighth place time of 1:52.83 in the 800m at the 2019 Colonial Relays (Apr. 4-6) … Helped lock up a seventh place finish in the DMR (10:01.04) at the 125th Penn Relays (Apr. 28) … Came in 10th place in the prelims of the 800m at the Ivy League Outdoor Track & Field Heps (May 4-5).
2017-18 (Sophomore): (XC) Ran a season best 27:46 in the 8K at the Paul Short Run. (Indoor) Ran a season best 1:55.24 in the 800m at the Fastrack National Invite … Went 2:28.40 in the 1K during the Metropolitan Championships for a career best. (Outdoor) Clocked a career best 1:51.75 in the 800m during Outdoor Heps … Ran a season best 4:01.27 in the 1,500m.
2016-17 (First Year): Posted a season best 1:55.06 in the 800m during the indoor season at the Columbia East-West Challenge … Ran 2:31.31 at the Dartmouth/Yale/Columbia tri-meet in the 1,000m … Clocked a 4:02.41 in the 1,500m during the Colonial Relays … Went 4:25.21 in the 1 Mile at the Metro Season Opener.
Personal: Competed in cross country and track & field at Berlin High School in Wisconsin … Posted career bests of 1:53.94 in the 800m, and 4:19 in the 1 Mile … The son of Micki Kastenschmidt and Von Caswell … Will attend Columbia College.
Career Bests
5 Mile (XC) – 28:40.9
Columbia Cross Country Invite – Sep. 8, 2017
8K (XC) – 26:58.4
Princeton Cross Country Invitational – 26:58.4
6K (XC) – 20:33.6
Marist Season Opener – Sept. 1, 2018
4×1609 (Indoor) – 17:34.87
Artie O’Connor Invitational – Feb. 17, 2017
4×1500 (Indoor) – 16:39.79
2017 Colonial Relays – Mar. 30-Apr. 1, 2017
DMR (Indoor) – 9:54.92
IC4A/ECAC Indoor Track & Field Championships – Mar. 1-3, 2019
DMR (Outdoor) – 10:01.04
125th Penn Relays – Apr. 25-27, 2019
4×800 (Indoor) – 7:33.09
ECAC/IC4A Indoor Championships – Mar. 2, 2018
4×800 (Outdoor) – 7:43.62
IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships – May 12-13
One Mile Run (Indoor) – 4:25.21
Metro Season Opener – Dec. 2, 2016
1,500m (Outdoor) – 4:01.27
Penn Challenge – March 24, 2018
1,000m (Indoor) – 2:28.40
Mets Indoor Track & Field Championships – Feb. 1, 2018
800m (Outdoor) – 1:51.75
Ivy League Outdoor Track & Field Heps – May 5, 2018
800m (Indoor) – 1:52.79
Armory Last Chance – Feb. 21, 2020
First Place In The Daughter-Running-For-My-Dad Division (0$ Prize Money)
There was pain. There were plenty of times between mile 17 and the finish at 26.2 when Rachel Ostrowski, her calves a knot of cramps, had to alternate walking with running.
But there was no question about not finishing.
The guy crying at seeing her pass at mile eight and who’d scream for her at mile 24.5 was the reason for that.
Running a marathon is akin to a fight. But, daily, Ostrowski, a Hen Hud senior, sees up close what a real fight is.
And cramping legs with a finish line drawing near couldn’t compare.
It was last November, three months after she and her family learned her dad, Walter, had pancreatic cancer, that Ostrowski’s mom, Nicole Lopen, a veteran of five marathons, told her elder daughter she was gong to run the Brooklyn Marathon in honor of Walter.
Although a soccer and lacrosse player, Ostrowski was no runner. She’d run maybe 3.5 miles at one time twice.
But that didn’t matter. She immediately told her mom she wanted to run the marathon, too.
“I was going to go for it,” she explained. “If my dad can go through endless chemo, I could run 26 miles.”
https://news.yahoo.com/hen-hud-senior-becomes-runner-090310832.html
By Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News