OK. A promoter called me last night looking for my input on an issue he is facing with a race this coming weekend. He and I are friends, and I am an advocate for women's racing, particularly 'cross, so he wanted to hear my thoughts.

Here's the issue - he has a Women's 3/4 field racing in the morning, for 30 minutes. The preceding race is a Cat 4 men's field, also racing for 30 minutes. All other fields during the day are racing for 45 minutes - for the same fee...

So, some of the women have been inundating him with email to increase the time of the race to 40 minutes - comparable to MANY of the other events in the region. His belief is that if there are TRUE beginner women (Cat 4 = beginner), they should be racing for just 30 minutes, and if a Cat 3 woman wants to race longer, they can race the 1/2/3 field later in the day.

Question for the good CX ladies of TE - if you are a beginner racer, do you want to race for 30 or 40 minutes? Please indicate how long you have been racing if you reply.

FWIW, this is an informal poll that I am conducting. I will be making a recommendation to regional promoters at the end of the season base on inputs received, and numbers of racers at all of our events (yes, a separate Cat 3 field would be ideal, but we're not sure we quite have the numbers to support that).

Thanks for your input!

SheFly