Female Inclusion Commitments
At Threshold Sports, we are committed to making our events as inclusive as possible. Mass participation sports have consistently struggled with gender balance on the start line, just like many other industries. We believe it is our responsibility as event organisers, to make a change and get as many women taking part as possible.
We hope that by adopting all the following commitments, our events will be female-friendly experiences where women feel empowered, comfortable, and supported from signing up to the finish line.
Pre-event
Fair deferral policies
Any pregnant woman should have the right to return to exercise when they are fit, healthy and well enough to do so.
Any pregnant woman can defer their entry to our events for up to 2 years.
Other exceptions to the normal deferral policy:
- Participants adopting or birthing via surrogacy within 3 months of the event date can defer entry for up to 2 years
- Participants with a partner who is pregnant with a due date within 1 month, or 2 months post event date, can defer for up to 2 years
Women in Sport meetings
Every month we hold internal Women in Sport meetings to make sure that as a business, we are being inclusive as possible and always making improvements, because there is always more that can be done.
Advisory panel
We will be holding ourselves accountable and are working on setting up an advisory panel. On the panel, we will have passionate advocates for inclusivity who will be able to support our progress, give us feedback as an event organiser, and ensure we are making significant positive change.
On-event
Breastfeeding support
If a participant gets in touch to say they will be breastfeeding on our events, we will do everything we can to support them and make them comfortable. We will make sure they have a chair and private area to breastfeed from, wherever preferred.
Sanitary products
Sanitary products are available at all info desks, pit stops and in the female-only cubicle toilets, throughout the event. If at any point there happens to be an empty box, please inform a member of crew as soon as you can.
Toilets
In previous years we have had all unisex portable toilets. We have acknowledged the feedback on this and will be marking some female-only cubicles with clearer signage from 2023.
Safety and race rules
On every event we have our Route Director give a participant brief to each start wave. This includes things like adopting the correct etiquette out on the route, do’s and don’t’s, safety reminders, and more.
Equal prizes
A winner is a winner. We always have and always will reward our male winners the same as our female winners.
Merchandise
We understand that many people want to purchase event merchandise, all sizes are either in male or female fit. Unisex clothes tend to be a male fit, which can deter some women thinking of taking part.
Post-event
Anonymising results
This year, we will be introducing the option to anonymise participants results to respect the privacy of our community. If you are taking part in 2023 and would like to have your results anonymised, please contact us.
We are constantly trying to improve our events and make them accessible for anyone and everyone. If you have any suggestions or recommendations on how we can improve for future years, please make use of the post event survey or get in touch.
