Dublin Marathon to introduce nonbinary category for this year's event

The Irish Life Dublin Marathon will also introduce a new category this year to allow athletes to enter as nonbinary as well as male or female, organizers announced on Tuesday, May 9. 

This, organizers said, follows consultation with members from the running community for whom this will make a positive impact and will allow runners to participate in a category that matches their identity.

A window will be provided to allow 2023 participants to change their entry to the nonbinary category should they wish to do so. 

Delighted to officially launch the 2023 #IrishLifeDublinMarathon & announce John Treacy as our Race Starter.

We’ve also introduced a number of inclusive initiatives for our event & a new transfer window for July 👟🏃🏻‍♀️

Read more: https://t.co/uLTa9SJZTp#PowerOfSupport pic.twitter.com/IsS0QUYtIp

— Irish Life Dublin Marathon (@dublinmarathon) May 9, 2023

“We don’t know, as yet, how many will avail of this new category,” Jim Aughney, Dublin Marathon race director, said about the new non-binary option during the launch of the 2023 race this week.

"And it won’t be available until August of this year because we’re waiting for the refunds and the transfer window to finish. Then we’ll open up the database again to declare as non-binary."

According to the Irish Mirror, Aughney explained during the launch event: “During our discussions with the clubs, particularly Dublin Frontrunners, a number of people said they hadn’t run the event in the past because non-binary wasn’t included. They said they would be delighted to run it in the event of a non-binary category being included.

"When we got that feedback from runners it was something we needed to add.

He continued: "We will (in future) have a category prize for it and they will be listed in the results.

"During the discussions, we said we’ll see how many and what the time profile is for those (non-binary who finish) as to whether we can actually do a tape finish for them or not.

"If you have someone in 3:15 or 3:30 it’s absolutely impossible to jump out in front of runners with a finish tape. At 3:15 we have 179 people finishing per minute, there’s no way you can jump out in front of one person to hold out a tape so we explained that to them and they understand that and are not expecting that.

"We’ll sit down and consult with them when we get entries in with a view to improving on it year on year as the category grows."

Dublin Front Runners, a running club for “gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans runners and our friends” that claims to be Ireland’s largest LGBTQ+ sports club, said on Wednesday that they were “delighted and privileged to have consulted with Dublin Marathon on the introduction of a nonbinary category over the past number of months. 

“Seeing this take effect is a huge step for our members and the wider community.

“We look forward to this being introduced across other events in the future and for the continued improvement in diversity and inclusion across sports in Ireland. 

“As a club, we pride ourselves in providing a safe and welcoming space where people are free to be themselves and express themselves as they wish.”

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The Dublin Marathon now joins with other major marathons in New York, London, Boston, and Chicago that already allow runners to identify as nonbinary at the entry stage.

Meanwhile, the Dublin Marathon will also, for the first time ever, allow for any woman who is unable to run in 2023 because they are pregnant or postpartum to defer their place to one of the following three years: 2024, 2025, or 2026.

Organizers noted that the 2023 Irish Life Dublin Marathon is already sold out. However, runners who have not yet been offered a place through the lottery system may benefit from the refund window as additional places may become available. The refund will be available in the first two weeks of June.

A new transfer system will also open to runners for July, allowing existing entrants to transfer their place to another runner.

The 2023 Irish Life Dublin Marathon will be held on Sunday, October 29. Olympic Silver medallist and Irish marathon record holder John Treacy has been chosen as the official race starter, marking the 30th anniversary of his win in the 1993 event.