Trans Marathoner Places 6,159th in Women's Category, Right-Wing Media Throws a Fit

Some right-wing media outlets are losing it over a transgender woman who competed in Sunday's London Marathon in the female category after having run in the male category in others — and didn’t come anywhere close to winning.

“Trans Runner Beat 14K Women in London Marathon After Running NYC as a Man,” trumpeted a New York Postheadline, and the story was picked up elsewhere as well. However, there were more than 6,000 women who finished ahead of the trans woman, Glenique Frank — she came in 6,159th in the women’s category.

Frank had competed in some marathons, such as New York City’s, as male because she had to participate under the name and gender on her passport, which identifies her as a man. In her home country, the United Kingdom, she wasn’t bound by the passport rules, as she was in other marathons outside the U.K.

And while the elite categories in the London Marathon must comply with World Athletics rules, which ban trans women in they have experienced male puberty, Frank was in the mass event, which is open to all, the U.K.’s Daily Mail notes. Elite runners are eligible for prize money, others not.

Frank, a 54-year-old personal trainer, told the Post in a follow-up interview that her critics are “saying that one of 14,000 women behind me could have had my place. Really? I did [the race in] 4 hours 11 minutes. There’s lots of women that beat me.”

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“But I didn’t compete as an elite, so I didn’t steal any money,” she added. She raises money for charity when she races.

Frank drew widespread attention after being interviewed by the BBC, where she promoted “girl power” and said she was excited about soon becoming a grandmother. She was criticized on social media, including in a tweet by Olympian Mara Yamauchi. “Males in the [female] category is UNFAIR for females,” she tweeted.

“I ticked ‘female’ [on the London Marathon registration form] because I see myself as female,” Frank responded in the Post interview. She is on hormone therapy, so she has a very low testosterone level, she noted, and she pointed that out to Yamauchi. She has not undergone gender-affirming surgery but plans to do so next year. “I’ve known since I was 5 that I was in the wrong body,” she said.

Like everyone in the race, she received a participation medal, and she has offered to return it if necessary. “But I don’t want to apologize, because I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.

She intends to run in London again next year and to register as “other” or “male,” “just to keep everybody happy,” she said. She will again raise funds for charity.