A biological male was awarded a $500 prize after placing first in the “non-binary” category of the New York Road Runners (NYRR) Ted Corbitt 15KM race on December 2. Nicholas Dill ultimately placed 117th out of 4,740 runners.
The non-binary category had 15 runners participating, while the male and female categories each had over 2,000 competitors. A $500 prize was awarded to the top runner in each category, and smaller amounts were awarded to the second through fifth place runners. Based on the winner’s names, it appears that all five prizes in the “non-binary” category were all awarded to biological males.
As a result Dill won the same amount of money as the top male and top female runners, despite being more than 10 minutes slower the first-place men’s time, and nearly four minutes behind the first-place women’s time.
Olympic athlete and advisor for Sex Matters, Mara Yamauchi, announced Dill’s win on X (formerly Twitter), expressing disbelief at the results.
“[As far as I can tell], all money winners male,” she noted, adding the hashtag “SaveWomensSports.”
The NYRR Ted Corbitt run was named after the organization’s co-founder, who was the first African American to compete in an Olympic Marathon. He was also known as an advocate for civil rights, and for creating age-group categories in his sport. Corbitt died in 2007, and NYRR launched its non-binary category in 2021.
“NYRR launched the Non-Binary Equity and Inclusion initiative to provide runners of all gender identities with the ability to run in a safe, competitive, and friendly environment that is equitable, accessible, inclusive, fair, and free of discrimination. As part of the initiative, NYRR participants have the option to choose their gender (man, woman, or non-binary) in their NYRR profile,” states the organization’s website.
The inclusivity policy means that male runners can compete in all three categories on self-declaration alone. The organization’s eligibility criteria states that the only requirement is that “any change in a participant’s NYRR gender profile must have occurred at least three months prior to race day.”
