A new trail race has been criticised for offering unequal prize money – runnersworld.com

A number of high-profile ultrarunners have hit out at the OUREA Xtrem trail race for its unequal division of prize money between men and women.

The race, which takes place in the French mountain resort of Avoriaz from 11-18 July, markets itself as ‘an unprecedented sports competition’ offering ‘€200,000 in prize money, unmatched in the world of trail running’.

Bigger prize money should be lauded in a sport in which runners regularly receive little or no financial reward for high-placed finishes. But the controversy comes with how this money has been apportioned between its male and female winners.

In the men’s race, run over 250km, the top 20 finishers all receive prize money. In the women’s race, run over 120km, only the top 5 finishers receive prize money. As a result, men receive in total €157,650 of the €200,000 prize money, with women receiving the remaining €42,350. The male winner of the individual event wins €10,000; the female winner takes home half that amount.

The justification for this decision is given on the race website –

‘The difference in prize money between the men’s and women’s categories is due to the lower amount of expected ELITE women participants. As this is our first OUREA competition, we weren’t sure of the amount of participants for the OUREA Xtrem.

‘However, during three stages of the OUREA 120, the ELITE women will compete for the same prize money as the ELITE men on the same stages. In future events, we plan on adjusting the prize money for ELITE women in the OUREA Xtrem if we have a big turnout of female runners.’

Is the race justified in expecting a relatively low turnout of female runners? Certainly, the fields at the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, a 171km race starting and ending in Chamonix, and the Marathon des Sables are overwhelmingly male. The organisers could also argue that €42,350 in prize money is significantly more than most races offer winners of either gender. Equally, is a race that financially recognises the top 20 males but only the top five females likely to encourage more women into the sport?

The reaction on social media – admittedly not always the greatest barometer of wider public opinion – would suggest not.

Ultrarunner Sophie Grant tweeted the below earlier this week:

The thread of responses shows that most are in a agreement.

She then followed up with the below:

With women winning ultra races outright, it’s surprising to see such an approach from a new race. Time will tell how successful it is.