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| Photo Credit: SCC Events |
Male-dominated sports pages,
shrunk and ‘pinked’ men clothing repacked and sold as women sizes – occasionally
it is nice to escape an androcentric sports world. In Germany Avon organizes a run
for women by women (Avon Frauenlauf) every year to raise funds for breast
cancer research. 18.598 women and girls ran through Berlin Tiergarten this year,
most wearing the official pink V-collar shirt: “Unbeschreiblich weiblich
(Unbelievably feminine)”. Husbands, significant others and male admirers watched
from the sidelines. In fact, with the exception of a few beaming grandmothers
and fascinated toddlers, the crowd consisted of men.
I was looking forward to it. Excited to meet fellow runners and with
the expectation to just finish, I lined up inches behind the start line,
shoulder to shoulder with elite runners, and for once in my life I saw the gun
before I heard it. Next to me were twins, Pia and Mia, 18, who looked exactly
alike, make-up, hair and all. They participate in marathons on a regular basis,
and their pictures have appeared in several German publications. To their
friends they are one item. “We made it a habit to introduce ourselves, since no
one can tell us apart,” one of them told me. Another runner, a mother of three,
shared her story. A breast cancer survivor, she firmly believes running saved
her life. One of the organizers joined us, she successfully completed the
grueling one hundred mile trail Leadville 100 race held in Colorado each year.
“Did you know 50 percent or less of the men who start the Leadville 100 finish,
but 90 percent or more of the women do? Think about it, when it comes to
endurance, we outrun the men,” she said. Needless to say, I was inspired.
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| Photo Credit: SCC Events |
Instead of competing against each
other and viewing each other as a potential threat in the work environment and
in social circles, we women should be bonding more. There are times where we
need to find the emergency exit from the hall of mirrors of our lives, and
those we assume to have our best interests in mind may not be directing us to
the nearest exit. Women have many things in common, and having “unbelievable
feminine” backup and reinforcement can help us widen the margins of our lives,
taking us to new places on our feet and showing us possibilities we never knew
existed before. As for me, very much to my own surprise, I finished strong with
a mile-long sprint, placing 19 out of 18.598 runners.
