4 September 2018

UK Athletics is introducing new non-binary guidance for road race organisers as the organisation continues its commitment to the Sports Charter; to enhance an inclusive climate within the sport.  

People whose gender is not male, or female use many different terms to describe themselves, with non-binary being one of the most common.

scottishathletics produced guidelines on this area within road racing earlier in 2018, and this has been considered by UK Athletics as best practice. Therefore, it will be implemented across the sport in the UK.

UK Athletics follow the Rules and Regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), however a non-binary race category does not alter or interfere with the right of trans people to continue to compete in their affirmed gender. (The UKA transgender policy is currently under review and will be published by the end of the year). 

UK Athletics support and encourage any race organisers who wish to include a third gender category. This guidance is a resource for race organisers who want to ensure they are inclusive of non-binary participants but is not mandatory.

The new guidance can apply to areas such as adding a non-binary category when seeking entry for races, or considering the terminology for pre-event race information, or looking at the facilities available at the event and considering whether they are non-binary friendly. A fact sheet on the guidance can be found here.

runbritain Manager, Gavin Lightwood added:

“After consulting with scottishathletics who implemented these guidelines earlier in the year, we are pleased to roll these out across the sport in the UK. We hope the guidance will be helpful for race organisers across the country to see how they can use these tools to make their events even more inclusive for those who identify as non-binary.”

The guidance has been developed with the support of runbritain, scottishathletics, England Athletics, Stonewall and London Frontrunners. UK Athletics signed up to the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme earlier this year.