We are very aware that ultramarathon events are often dominated by men, with a much smaller percentage of women making it to the start line.  At Go Beyond Challenge we are striving to reduce the gender gap, encouraging more women to take part in long distance running.

Below are some of the ways that we are encouraging greater female participation by removing barriers to entry:

Both male and female runners receive equal coverage in the build up to race day.  We feature photographs/footage of both men and women in our social media coverage from previous years.

We have updated our deferral policy to offer the option to defer a race place for anybody who is pregnant or postpartum for up to two years from year of entry.  We are a breastfeeding friendly company and invite runners who are currently breastfeeding to get in touch to discuss how best we can accommodate your needs whilst attending our events.

Cut-off times have been based on a competitor running even splits, a strategy which is often favoured by female runners.

We have considered our checkpoint locations to try and incorporate permanent toilet structures as often as possible on route.  Where possible toilets will offer separate male and female cubicles.

We offer a selection of sanitary items at each checkpoint.  Each checkpoint will be manned by both male and female volunteers.  Please speak to a member of the checkpoint team if you require any products for use.

We have dispensed with the map book and instead provide electronic trackers at all of our long distance events which both allows us to monitor the progress of all competitors and the competitors to view where they are on the route.  Also we have introduced the free ridewithgps app which gives runners voice cue navigation (like a sat nav). These measures ensure that female runners are confident on the route and that we have a continually updated picture of the event to ensure the safety of all particularly after dark.

At dusk, our checkpoint teams will actively encourage runners to ‘buddy up’ and run together into the night for safety purposes.
All of our longer ultramarathon events are also trackable for this reason.

All of our events award every finisher with a medal and the first three runners of each gender will be presented with a trophy.  This has always been the case at our events.  When reporting on the podium finishers, both men and women will be added as separate posts on our social media channels, so as not to overshadow the achievements of any runners.

We welcome discussion and if you feel that there is still a barrier discouraging women from entering our events then we would love for you to get in touch to have a conversation with us in how best we can ensure our events are accessible for all.