FYI - I race in those fields in New England, and have been for several years, working my way from a Cat 4 to a Cat 3 in the process. When I started racing, we were combined with the Junior men, 15-18. This was a HUGE problem for both fields, which has now been changed - they race with the 35+ men.

Yes, we race with the juniors. Yes, SOMETIMES it is an issue.

You cite the numbers at Providence - that was an anomaly of a race in terms of participation (that and Gloucester) - those numbers were cut by over 50 women in the next series of Verge races, and will be even further reduced in the next two series. The men's fields, with the exception of the 35+ race, all will sell out.

On the flip side, at the NON-VERGE races (which, by the way, are more fun), there is often a SEPARATE cat 4 women's field. They may share a time slot with the Elite women, but the separation is usually in the order of 2 mins, and they get their own race. Numbers at these races? Much lower. I have been racing the 1/2/3 races here, and there have typically been between 9 and 15 women. The Cat 4 files is a bit bigger, but also typically only about 20-25. THIS is why there are not separate fields - there aren't the participation numbers to support it.

There has been LOTS of discussion amongst racers and promoters about having separate fields, master's fields, etc. for the women, but frankly, the numbers don't support it. It isn't discrimination based on gender - if the men's fields don't have the numbers, those would start to be combined as well.

Oh - and about those juniors? They are the future of the sport. There aren't any other time slots in the day where they could race, so they get slotted with us. Have they impacted my racing? Absolutely. But I'd rather see them out there racing and growing the sport, so I encourage them all as I pass politely.

SheFly

p.s.
If you are concerned, what do you suggest the solution might be????