Race Distance

     If you're in cross country, you've probably heard that the state of Iowa has eliminated running a shorter distance than boys in cross country races. Instead of running a 4K, girls will now be racing a 5K, which is the same as the boys.
    To simplify that a bit, girls used to run two and half miles during a race, while the boys would run just over three. Girls now will be racing just over three miles to determine the winner.
     After doing some reading, I noticed that coaches were either strongly for or strongly against having girls race the same distance as boys. By increasing the race distance for girls, coaches began to fear that there would be less participation (let's face it, running two and half miles as fast as you can is hard enough, but now over three?!) and that fewer girls would decide to join cross country just out of fear for the weekly races. I have an argument to that, however. And that is that during practices alone most girls run more than 3.1 miles, usually a minimum practice will have four miles, but average will have about six or seven. Putting it into perspective, the distance of the race will still be less than what the girls are used to running everyday. Yes, it will be physically taxing, and the time that a runner wants will depend on how hard they push themselves, but it won't be an entirely huge stretch.
     Some claim that girls were being discriminated when not being allowed to race the same distance as boys. And I'll admit, last season, I was all talk. If you asked me, I'd totally agree that any girl could and can race just as far as the boys. And by having the race distance for girls be shorter than the boys it did feel as though whoever was in charge of the race distance was discriminating against the girls. And speaking for girls overall, equality would be nice (I mean, we still don't get equal pay to the man even if it is the same exact job). But here's the thing. Just because I believe girls can do it doesn't mean I personally want to!
     I have no doubt that a girl could beat a boy in a race, and this doesn't mean that girls and boys will be racing together. But what if it did? Would boys still be laughing that girls were "asking for it" when a girl beats their time? (420)