Trail100 Andorra by UTMB, part of the UTMB World Series, is looking to encourage and promote female participation in ultrarunning with its Women Step Up program. The initiative aims to give a voice to female trailrunners, and empower them to inspire future generations.
Throughout the remaining season and until the Trail100 Andorra by UTMB race in 2025, the program will bring together participating female athletes from all over the world to share their experiences within trail running. The purpose is to promote women’s sport in all its versions, both in training and in participation in competitive events.
Women Step Up will be divided into two main phases that will have a double objective: on the one hand, to give female athletes a voice to explain their story and their concerns, and, on the other, to accompany them during the training process towards the race day.
The Trail100 Andorra by UTMB team stated that ‘we have a responsibility to change the way women are represented, not only in sport, but also in life.’
Launched in March, the phase one of Women Step Up aims to listen to and understand women trail runners through focus groups. The first focus group took place on Monday, March 18. Here, athletes who this year are participating in the Trail100 Andorra by UTMB, from June 14-16, had the opportunity to meet the event team as well as professional runners and personal trainers.
Topics of discussion included individual milestones when running in the mountains, and how athletes should manage the barriers that society imposes on them. Other topics were also put on the table, and focused mainly on hormonal health and training.
Starting in September 2024, phase two of the program seeks to help and empower women who want to participate in any of the editions of Trail100 Andorra by UTMB. In this phase, the event team will work hand in hand with pro runners to guide the athletes.
The Trail100 Andorra by UTMB team note that mountain and trail running races have seen a fairly notable increase in athletes lately. This increase in athletes has also been positively reflected in female participation.
According to data from Trail100 Andorra by UTMB, in 2022 the total number of women registered was 21%. In the Trail10K, they represented the majority of those registered with 62%. Meanwhile, 32% ran the Trail 20K, 14% the Trail 50K and, finally, 10% opted for the longest distance, the Ultra 105K.
The event team added… ‘All these figures highlight the progression of women’s sport in terms of participation, but there is still a long way to go if we want to achieve gender equality on the starting lines of mountain races.
‘We refer to data that identifies fundamental issues such as problems of insecurity when running in the mountains alone or the great debate on family conciliation, especially in cases in which the female athlete is a mother. A whole series of topics that the organization hopes to address soon.
‘Women Step Up can only indicate one thing: we are on the right path, but we must continue to raise standards so that races are equally accessible to everyone in the world.’
