Published January 24, 2024 05:11PM
Amanda Gorman, Des Linden, and Others Combine Forces to Announce the Every Woman's Marathon
More than half of female runners feel like races cater to men more than women, and this marathon aims to defy that statistic.
(Photo: Every Woman's Marathon )
Out of the new boom in women’s running in the U.S., a new female-led marathon is on the horizon in 2024. On November 16, the Every Woman’s Marathon, a 26.2-mile race organized by women for women, will be held in Savannah, Georgia.
The event, sponsored by MILK, is supported by an advisory board made up of five incredible female athletes: Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon; Danielle McLaughlin, a para-triathlon champion; Alison Mariella Desir, a runner, author, and founder of Harlem Run; Deena Kastor, the bronze medalist in the marathon at the 2004 Olympics; and Des Linden, a two-time Olympian and winner of the 2018 Boston Marathon. These women, along with a team of organizers, are helping make the race a two-day experience emphasizing female empowerment and inclusivity.
Acclaimed poet Amanda Gorman assisted in the race’s announcement by performing a call to action for female runners of all backgrounds and abilities.
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“Calling all women for all walks of life,” Gorman says in the video released along with the launch. The newcomers, longtime runners, and in-between. We know that to be a woman means to be everything for everyone all at once. But when we run, that’s for us.”
“We’ve been blown away by the incredible response to Every Woman’s Marathon, particularly on social media,” says Miranda Abney, senior director of marketing at MilkPEP. “Witnessing the flood of positive responses and outpouring of love from women everywhere, expressing the necessity of this event, sharing their inspiration, and many declaring their newfound motivation to start running—it is truly remarkable.”
“We’ve been blown away by the incredible response to Every Woman’s Marathon, particularly on social media,” says Miranda Abney, senior director of marketing at MilkPEP. “Witnessing the flood of positive responses and outpouring of love from women everywhere, expressing the necessity of this event, sharing their inspiration, and many declaring their newfound motivation to start running—it is truly remarkable.”
Gonna Need Milk, a campaign that promotes the milk, conducted consumer research to guide the race’s programming and found that 60 percent of female runners feel that most endurance races cater to men more than women, and that 88 percent want races to be more inclusive.
“We are here for the long run. We’ve always been the strong ones, though we may not know it yet,” Gorman says in her poem. “We are not running out of time, we’re reclaiming it.”
Registration for the event opened at a discounted price for a limited time. Though the race is catered toward women, all gender orientations of interested participants who are 18+ are able to run. A day after registration opened, more than 600 women committed to running in November.
“Training for a marathon is a huge commitment,” Abney says. “So this enthusiastic response really shows how much demand there is for a race like this.”