If you run the Boston Marathon next year, you’ll find your options wide open.

Previously, the race has been officially endeavored by only men and women. But in 2023, Beantown will see great strides taken for those who are neither.

The event’s registration page rings the bell of progress. From its large section dedicated to “nonbinary athletes”:

The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is…working on expanding opportunities for nonbinary athletes at our events, including the upcoming 2023 Boston Marathon. While we do not currently have qualifying standards for nonbinary athletes, we are working on ways non-binary participants are accepted into the event.

Select your specifics…or lack thereof:

Nonbinary athletes who have completed a marathon as a nonbinary participant during the current qualifying window (September 1, 2021 through September 16, 2022) may submit an entry application into the 2023 Boston Marathon between September 12-16, 2022. Entry into the event will be determined by an athlete’s submitted time and based on the Boston Marathon’s overall field size limit. The Boston Marathon registration application will feature the option to select nonbinary in regards to gender.

The race aims to “promote inclusion at all B.A.A. events.” Therefore, it’s hosting ongoing discussions “with nonbinary athletes.”

There’s much to learn:

With this being our first year, we do not yet have enough data to establish nonbinary qualifying times. … As we prepare for future races, participants can expect nonbinary times to be updated accordingly. We view this first year as an opportunity to learn and grow together.

Age-based qualifying times for men and women are as follows:

• 18-34: Men 3:00:00, Women 3:30:00
• 35-39: Men 3:05:00, Women 3:35:00
• 40-44: Men 3:10:00, Women 3:40:00
• 45-49: Men 3:20:00, Women 3:50:00
• 50-54: Men 3:25:00, Women 3:55:00
• 55-59: Men 3:35:00, Women 4:05:00
• 60-64: Men 3:50:00, Women 4:20:00
• 65-69: Men 4:05:00, Women 4:35:00
• 70-74: Men 4:20:00, Women 4:50:00
• 75-79: Men 4:35:00, Women 5:05:00
• 80+: Men 4:50:00, Women 5:20:00

The current nonbinary qualifying times are exactly the same as those for women. The registration page could simply state that; but B.A.A. has double-listed them all, presumably out of respect.

So if you and your friend are both male and 45 years old, and if he identifies as a man but you say you’re neither man nor woman, if you both score 3:49:00…you’ll make it but he won’t.

These days, nonbinary is all the rage:

On the Wings of Woke: Airline Jettisons ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’

Disney Lops ‘Ladies and Gentlemen,’ Bounces ‘Boys and Girls’ in the Name of Inclusion

British Train Company Apologizes to Nonbinary Passenger for Employee Greeting ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’

Students at a Pro-Transgender Women’s College Decry Its Anti-Nonbinary Attitude

California Eyes a Near-Million-Dollar Menstrual Bill for Women, Men and the Nonbinary

‘Nonbinary Gender Affirming’ Doctors Offer Sexual ‘Nullification’ Surgery

Back to Boston, Fox News notes The Cradle of Liberty’s hoofing it to catch up with Philadelphia (which is also nicknamed “The Cradle of Liberty”):

The Philadelphia Distance Run was the first large race in the U.S. to establish a nonbinary division and offer equal prize money. The event did that last year.

Long-distance runner Nikki Hiltz, for one, is elated:

Nikki Hiltz, a nonbinary pro miler and 1,500 runner who came out as transgender last year and nearly missed a spot on the U.S. team for the Tokyo Olympics, praised the move in a tweet.

There’s still so much work to be done but I’m thrilled that nonbinary runners are being acknowledged by the Boston Marathon and @BAA 👏 https://t.co/1fIvaAP2L6

— Nikki Hiltz (@Nikki_Hiltz) September 13, 2022

Is this the future of marathons? Surely it is — at least concerning the near future. Curiously, before our recent revolution, we were all nonbinary: Not long ago, there was no such thing as “gender identity;” a person’s sex was observed, and that was all.

For now, we’re being told to adopt a new category of identification. So choose your gender avatar — man, woman, or something both electrifyingly modern and historically mundane.

-ALEX

See more content from me:

‘Scooby-Doo’ Character Will No Longer Call the Cops — That Would Be Racist

Teacher Warns Students Not to Judge Adults Who Want to ‘Have Sex With a Five-Year-Old’

Chris Pratt Remembers Those Who ‘Kissed Their Families Goodbye’ One Last Time on September 11th

Find all my RedState work here.

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