Triathlon: the ideal sport for women who want to compete alongside men

I take a strange kind of pride in the fact that in all the photos of myself I like the most, I look a right old mess. Usually I’m wearing something skin-tight made out of Lycra or neoprene. I’ve got marks round my eyes where my swimming goggles have sat and my hair’s more street urchin than pixie crop. What you’d notice before all that though – and the thing that’s most important – is the size of the grin on my face.

This is a theme explored recently in the This Girl Can campaign – and I’d recommend anyone who wants to focus on the sheer enjoyment and exhilaration of sport to take up triathlon. You’ll get fit fast – training for three sports will do that – and the variety keeps it interesting.

With our coverage of female triathletes in 220 Triathlon I’m very, very lucky as editor of the magazine. Triathlon is quite an unusual sport at the elite level, as women race on an equal billing with the men at the same events. On the ITU race circuit, men and women race the same courses and distances and receive the same prize money. In fact, my only gripe would be that the wider media could do more – why, for instance, do the men’s races get better TV slots?

At longer distances, too, women are competing at the same level. One of our greatest British athletes is Chrissie Wellington, four-time Ironman world champion, and she is regarded in awe by both our male and female readers alike. At the moment, she’s a regular contributor to the mag, writing a training feature each issue. We wouldn’t give an athlete that level of coverage unless we knew they appealed to the whole of our (male-dominated!) readership.

At this year’s Ironman final in Hawaii, the female winner, Mirinda Carfrae, posted a faster run time than the male winner – and generally in tri where male and female athletes race alongside each other there’s an immense amount of mutual respect. They’ll often train together and men may joke about being “chicked” (overtaken) by a female athlete while racing, but it’s said as a compliment rather than derisively.

Our magazine content is, I hope, pretty evenly balanced too. In the last year we’ve had four female athletes on the cover – how many sports magazines can say that? Our best-selling issue of last year showed triathlete Lucy Gossage (who incidentally won last year’s Ballbuster duathlon – outright) looking strong and powerful on a race bike. That’s in spite of our average reader being a male athlete in his late 30s – proving that female triathletes and their achievements are equally interesting to our audience, male or female.

So at an elite level women’s triathlon is looking pretty healthy. The work to do is in encouraging more women to try the sport for the first time and that’s where the media, race organisers and industry bodies need to think about how we can add to the momentum of campaigns such as This Girl Can.

The TIA (Triathlon Industry Association) says female participation in triathlon is on the up – it stands at 26% at the moment. That’s great, but it’s something I think we can improve. Female-only races are small in number but increasing and you only have to look at the success of Race For Life to see how powerful those can be. You don’t need fancy kit to have a go either – I’ve seen women racing on old shopper bikes in beat-up trainers, having the time of their lives.

The UK’s biggest race, the London Triathlon, reports an increase in female participation from 25% in 2014 to 28% for 2015’s race. They’re keen to encourage more women too, so are offering female-only race waves as well as an equal prize purse for male and female competitors.

I’d encourage any women who swim a bit, bike a bit and run a bit to keep fit to look into triathlon. There are plenty of different races to choose from, some amazing female athletes to look to for inspiration and you’ll be surprised by the level of support you receive. You’ll also be amazed by the feeling of achievement you get at the end of your first race too – even if you are dripping in sweat, wearing the most unflattering outfit of your life and picking pondweed out of your hair …

Helen Webster is Editor of 220 Triathlon magazine. The 220 Triathlon Show 2015 is held at Sandown Park, Esher, from 27 February to 1 March.

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