Boston Strong? Not When Men Are Running in the Women’s Category

Boston Strong? Not when it comes to allowing men to compete against women in the Boston Marathon.

The 129th Boston Marathon hits the streets on April 21, 2025 — right in step with the 250th anniversary of Patriots’ Day. A historic day that once celebrated rebellion and resilience is now being overshadowed by a new kind of absurdity: men in the women’s division.

At least one man will run in the women’s category at the Boston marathon on Monday.

Men can compete in all 3 categories at the marathon — men’s, women’s, and “non-binary.”

No category is protected for women. pic.twitter.com/EID0D021GU

— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) April 19, 2025

Enough Is Enough

Jennifer Sey, writing in the New York Post, finally says what far too many are too afraid to: enough is enough. It’s time to stop pretending that male bodies in female sports aren’t a problem. Because they are. And the Boston Marathon — one of the most iconic sporting events in America — is letting it happen.

Yet now the marathon has allowed a male to compete in the women’s division, because he claims to be a woman.

Riya Suising, born Robert Chien Hwa Young, is a man. A long-time runner, Suising has competed in races in the female category more than 338 times since 2009, medaling for his age group more than 140 times.

In each of those races, he displaced a deserving woman — and every time he stood atop the podium, he displaced many.

Allowing male runners in women’s races undermines fairness and disadvantages female competitors.

It means a man could win every Boston Marathon category — men’s, women’s and non-binary, too.

No space is protected for women.

On a day meant to honor courage and freedom, is this what breaking barriers really means?

— New York Post

This isn’t some brand-new progressive frontier. The Boston Athletic Association has allowed males to register as women since at least 2018, so long as they “identify” as such. In other words, facts and biology take a backseat to feelings and ideology. And they’re getting away with it under the banner of inclusivity.

Even the media has been playing along for years. Remember Women’s Running magazine putting “Amelia” Gapin — a biological male — on their cover back in 2016? That was their idea of championing women: spotlighting a man.

The Line In The Ground

The problem isn’t just one race. It’s the relentless erasure of women in sports, period. Women train, sacrifice, and qualify — only to be edged out or overshadowed by someone who never had to deal with the realities of female biology. This isn’t fairness. It’s fraud.

Jennifer Sey nailed it: this is a line in the sand moment. The Boston Marathon used to represent grit, endurance, and the triumph of human will. Now? It’s turning into a showcase for male entitlement dressed up in spandex and slogans.

Real women deserve real competition. Not participation trophies for men in makeup.

Jennifer Sey — former elite gymnast, author, and founder of XX-XY Athletics — doesn’t mince words in her New York Post takedown. She backs it all up with hard facts and harder truths:

Simply claiming to be a woman does not erase male athletic advantage.

Take VO2 max, or the body’s ability to use oxygen during intense exercise.

It’s a key marker of endurance, and men’s VO2 max is, on average, 50% greater than women’s.

Nothing can change human sex. Suising, whose qualifying time just barely got him a slot in the race, stole a spot from an actual woman.

Sports competitions set clear boundaries for a reason — and women are not merely impaired men.

The argument that dosing men with enough wrong-sex hormones means they should compete against women is deeply misogynistic.

One of the most impactful points Jennifer Sey makes in her New York Post article is about the power of the boycott. Not the hashtag kind that fizzles out in 48 hours — the real kind, where people actually stop spending money. She lays it out clearly: if companies like Adidas want to trample women while pretending it’s progress, then they don’t deserve our business. Dollars matter. And when enough people walk away, they feel it.

Time To Boycott Some Brands

Turns out, boycotts can work. I didn’t always think so — seemed like performative noise that didn’t move the needle. But after reading the New York Post piece and tallying up how much I’ve spent on Adidas shoes over the years, I’m done playing along. I’m donating every last pair and won’t be buying more. I did the same thing with Ulta when they chose virtue signaling over their actual customer base. Haven’t looked back. These companies only start paying attention when the receipts stop rolling in.

Sports are not about inclusion. Not everyone qualifies for the Boston Marathon. Female athletes dedicate their lives to achieving the necessary qualifying time to run in that storied event.

Yet Bank of America and Adidas, the marathon’s lead corporate sponsors, are tacitly endorsing the Boston Athletic Association’s obliteration of the women’s category and the erasure of female athletes.

It’s time for we the people to reject their blatant disregard of women.

Boycotts work. Look at Bud Light, which lost its top spot in the beer category because of an alliance with trans-identified male influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

[…]

If Adidas and Bank of America won’t step away from the race, we should step away from their brands.

The Boston Marathon used to be a celebration of human endurance, achievement, and fair competition. Now it’s just another battleground in the culture war — where women are expected to smile and stay silent while men rewrite the rules. But thanks to voices like Jennifer Sey, the silence is breaking. It’s time to stop funding the charade. If brands want to sell out women for applause from the activist class, let them do it without our wallets. The line has been crossed. Let’s hold it.

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