Suffolk County Marathon to consider adding nonbinary division for 2023

The organizers of the Suffolk County Marathon will consider adding a nonbinary division for runners next year, part of a worldwide effort to make running competitions more gender inclusive.

The move comes as the Boston and London marathons became the latest of the major world-class races to announce they will accept nonbinary registrants for 2023. The New York City Marathon added a nonbinary category for runners in 2021 and will do so for its 2022 field when the race is run on Nov. 6.

"It's a no-brainer," Greater Long Island Running Club general manager Suzanne Nelson said of providing a nonbinary division for runners, in addition to male and female entrant categories. "There's no reason we shouldn't do it."

A spokesperson for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said while there is not a nonbinary classification for entrants in the 2022 Suffolk Marathon, slated for Oct. 22, it is under consideration for inclusion for 2023. And, spokesperson Marykate Guilfoyle said, if entrants seek to register as a nonbinary runner for this year's marathon they can contact the organizer, Race Awesome, and request to be listed as nonbinary.

A nonbinary category was not offered for the 2022 Long Island Marathon, which is hosted by Nassau County. Officials could not immediately be reached regarding entry categories for next year's competition.

'Equal treatment'

In an interview Wednesday, Nelson said the move toward opening up races to nonbinary runners shouldn't be confused with the ongoing sports-world debate regarding transgender athletes, who want to compete with the gender they identify with, rather than the one they were assigned at birth.

"Nonbinary specifically means you do not identify as either a man or a woman," Nelson said. 

She added, "When you do not identify as either gender then you deserve to have your own category. And that's because we all deserve to have equal treatment."

According to Running Magazine, in 2020 the Philadelphia Distance Run became the first "large race" in the United States to include a nonbinary division, followed by the Brooklyn Marathon and Brooklyn half that April. Worldwide, a number of major marathons — including San Francisco, Chicago, Berlin and New York City — have also started including nonbinary entrants.

The New York Road Runners, which organizes the TCS New York City Marathon, expanded gender choices at its races beginning with the Front Runners New York LGBT Pride Run 6K race on June 26, 2021, organizers said. Since then, all of the group's events have included male, female and nonbinary divisions — and this year they included a nonbinary classification for top runners, team awards, time-qualifying standards, club point series recognition and even prize money.

In a statement Wednesday, the organization said: "NYRR is committed to creating a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and socially responsible running community, and support of our nonbinary athletes is one step toward that goal."

Currently, 51 nonbinary runners are registered for the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon. In 2022, NYRR races have seen 441 nonbinary finishers, officials said.

The trend toward greater gender inclusivity appears to be growing on Long Island as well.

Earlier this year, a nonbinary division was offered at the P.S. I Love You Day run and walk in North Babylon.

And Nelson said that her running club, which has more than 3,000 members and dates to 1978, began working months ago toward opening the door for nonbinary runners.

The group organizes about 30 events a year, she said, and has worked to encourage race sponsors to offer a nonbinary division for runners who seek one.

"We're one big community, we're one big family . . . And, we're bleeding young people on this Island right now and that's not just because it's cost-prohibitive, but also because it's socially-prohibitive," said Nelson. "I'd like to give my runners — and our members — a sense of community. This is something we can do to do that."

Rich Boziwick, race director for the Cow Harbor Race, scheduled for this weekend in Northport, said the entrant categories for Saturday's 10-kilometer timed race and 2k fun run included only male and female divisions, but he was open to changing that in the future.

The race is one of the oldest on Long Island, with this year's event being the 45th annual competition.

"I've been on the committee for 25 years, and the issue of a nonbinary class has never been brought up to us by our registrants," Boziwick said. "But, I'm sure we'll discuss this in a month or so when we discuss open registration for our 2023 this coming March."

He added, "If it's a case that someone feels more comfortable with a nonbinary classification, I see no reason why that shouldn't be available to them." 

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”