we got tired of counting the women on the start line.
forthegirls is a community for women in triathlon. course recces, meets, and a campaign to even out race fields. it started with two age-groupers in the north west who suspected plenty of other women felt the same way.
how it started
pippa and kellie kept lining up at races and noticing the same thing: they could count the women. proud to be one of them, and frustrated there weren't more. there's a camaraderie between the women on a start line that nobody ever says out loud. the whole point of forthegirls is to say it out loud.
Our inspiration behind forthegirls came from standing on the start line and being shocked at the lack of women… but simultaneously being proud to be one.
pippa spencer
what makes it hard
triathlon is difficult to get into for anyone. it's harder when the kit, the gear and most of the clubs were built with someone else in mind. we walked into a well-known tri retailer recently and found a single rack of women's cycling clothes, tucked in among several for men. small thing. it's the sort of small thing that tells you the sport isn't expecting you.
what we actually do
we ride and run the courses before race day, so nobody turns up guessing. we hold meets. we campaign to get race fields closer to even. most of the in-person things happen in the north west because that's where we are, but the interest has come from a lot further out than that, so beginner webinars are next.
what we want to change
more beginner-friendly events. more women-only training and community events. more women telling their own stories in the sport. race organisers and governing bodies have started putting real money and research behind this, and it's showing. it just needs to keep going.
We want women to be screaming 'do it for the girls' at each other whenever they are taking part in events, because it reassures them to know that, even if they turn up to a race alone, they have the support of each other.
kellie branagan
if you're thinking about it
go and watch a race first. social media is full of pros and fast age-groupers, which makes it hard to picture yourself in it. stand at the side of a real event and you'll see how many people out there are just normal. that's usually the moment it clicks.