Parkrun urged to stop letting trans people compete in women's runs (2025)

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Parkrun has been urged to scrap their policy allowing transgender women to compete in women's runs.

It comes after one trans woman has finished first in around 60 of the morning 5km runs, once finishing ahead of a former British Olympian.

Women's rights groups are now calling for organisers to take action to comply with this week's Supreme Court ruling, which said that women are defined by biological sex and not gender.

Currently Parkrun participants can take part as the gender they identify as, meaning men who self-identify as woman are allowed to take part as woman, regardless of whether they have undergone any physical changes.

Critics say this has led to trans women being allowed to 'smash' female records, The Times reported.

Feminist activists were left 'lost for words' in 2023 after it emerged that a Parkrun women's record is still held by a transgender champion fell runner who was jailed for attempting to murder a UK Athletics official.

Former British fell-running champion Lauren Jeska was jailed in 2017 when a dispute over her eligibility to compete as a female athlete despite being born male turned violent.

Oxford-educated Jeska, then 42, was handed an 18-year prison sentence for repeatedly stabbing UK Athletics' head of human resources, Ralph Knibbs, then 52.

Former Olympic marathon runner Mara Yamaguchi said another trans athlete Siân Longthorpe 'smashed to smithereens' a women's Parkrun record in the 45-49 age group category.

Ms Yamauchi, herself an elite marathon runner, used the Welsh race and the trans competitor's clearcut victory in it as an example of her point that birth female athletes are not being treated fairly - saying she believes the record may now be 'out of female hands forever'.

Records show that Claire Hallissey, a marathon runner who was part of Team GB at the London Olympics, also finished behind a trans athlete at a Parkrun.

Ms Yamaguchi told The Times: 'The and unanimous in stating that women are defined by their biological sex. Currently Parkrun allows males in the female category. This is unfair against women and girls and Parkrun will be the first experience of organised sport for many women and girls. To be bumped down the finish order and told to make way for males is a terrible message.'

Fiona McAnena, the director of Sex Matters, a campaign group, said: 'It's never been 'inclusive' to allow male runners to claim women's places and records. Now Parkrun has no excuse to continue to discriminate against women by letting men register as female. Anyone can line up at a Parkrun.

'Letting men register as women was never necessary for inclusion, only for validation of their cross-sex identities. Parkrun should stop virtue signalling and get back to its core purpose of encouraging everyone to get active.'

UK Athletics has moved to ban transgender women from competing in female categories after guidance concluded it could not balance fairness with safety.

Parkrun is a global running community which organises 5km races every Saturday for all abilities, encouraging people to run, walk or spectate.

Parkrun was started in Teddington in 2004 and has gained fans around the world.

It allows runners to self-identify their gender as 'male', 'female', 'non-binary' or 'prefer not to say'.

On the subject of self-ID, a Parkrun spokesman previously said the fun run was not a race or athletic competition overseen by national or international federations and believed that it would not be 'appropriate or practical' to request proof of gender or 'adjudicate the validity of a person's gender identity'.

Parkrun previously stated:'As we work towards the objectives set out in our five year strategy we'll continue to take steps to ensure that everyone is able to enjoy Parkrun for what it is: a free community event and an opportunity to be active, social and outside in a non-competitive, inclusive and welcoming environment.'

Parkrun was contacted for further comment.

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