Mount Marathon nonbinary division has three racers

In March, the Mount Marathon Race board of directors decided to make a molehill out of what is becoming a growing mountain of gender controversy: They voted to establish a nonbinary category of racers for the 96th running of Mount Marathon in Seward, an event that happens every Fourth of July.

Since there is a growing sense of nonbinary-ism among younger generations, the race board could avoid a lawsuit or public embarrassment by simply having a category so that men would — possibly — not compete in the women’s division. There’s still no “test” for gender, but having a separate category might make the race more fair for women racers.

Thus, this year for the first time, there are three nonbinary runners signed up for the race to the top of Mount Marathon, which sits over Seward line a hen guarding her chicks. This will be a first for the famous run that is the toughest 5-K in the country.

Nonbinary refers to people who have not settled in their minds that they are male or female. It’s not the same as transgender, although the category may attract such a competitor.

In all, this year’s race has 956 runners signed up. They get to be in the race through a variety of paths: Some win by lottery, others through being veterans of the race and still others get a one-time petition, or through a sponsor slot. There’s a 375-racer per adult division cap.

Zoe Dohring, who teaches gender studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage, was the first to sign up as a nonbinary racer for the race that dashes out of downtown Seward and up the slippery, shale mountain. In Dohring’s bio, he says he is white, trans femme, non-binary, temporarily able-bodied, queer, and that he has the best time in the country for running a marathon in high heels.

“I’ve dreamed of running in Mount Marathon for all the 10 years that I’ve lived in Alaska, but I’ve chosen to not join the lottery in recent years, knowing that I no longer fit in the category devoted to my sex assigned at birth,” Dohring said in March, when the change was announced.

In addition to Dohring, a runner from Salt Lake City, Utah, and another from Tyler, Texas have signed up, all but assuring that there will be a first, second, and third place prize winner in the new gender-ish category.

The nonbinary division will have its own results and nonbinary participants will receive the same overall and age-group awards as participants in the men’s, women’s, boys’ and girls’ divisions, the race website says.

Because the event has separate gendered races, adult nonbinary entrants must choose to participate in the men’s or women race and will be placed in a start wave that corresponds with their ability, the race explains on its website.

Nonbinary juniors will run with others the juniors’ race, as boys and girls run together in a single wave.

The three nonbinary entrants may seem like a drop in the bucket out of 956 racers, but considering that the Chicago Marathon has 50,000 runners, and had 70 nonbinary entrants in 2022, which grew to 242 by the next year, Seward’s Mount Marathon race appears to be off to a running start. According to the Non-Binary Racing Database, Alaska now is home to 2% of the all the races in the country with nonbinary divisions.

The race is among the oldest footraces in America and is considered the oldest mountain footrace in the country. It started as a bet between two miners as to whether someone could reach the top of the mountain and return within one hour. The race was officially organized in 1915.

Thousands head to Seward for the Fourth of July, and line the street to cheer on the racers, who scramble up and back from the slope of Mount Marathon, a rocky, ankle-turning mountain of shale and loose rock.