The Irish Life Dublin Marathon will introduce a new category for non-binary runners in addition to the male and female ones for its upcoming race in October 2023. The organisers of the event said that they hope this decision “will make a positive impact and will allow for runners to participate in a category that matches their identity”.

The announcement follows consultation with members of the running community, particularly with LGBTQ+ club Dublin Front Runners. Starting in August, there will be a window of time to allow participants who have already signed up for the Dublin marathon to switch to the non-binary category, should they wish to do so.

“During our discussions with the clubs, particularly Dublin Frontrunners, a number of people said they hadn’t run the event in the past because non-binary wasn’t included,” Dublin Marathon Race Director Jim Aughney said. “When we got that feedback from runners it was something we needed to add.

“During the discussions, we said we’ll see how many and what the time profile is for those [non-binary racers] as to whether we can actually do a tape finish for them or not,” the director further explained. “And we’ll sit down and consult with them when we get entries in with a view to improving on it year on year as the category grows.”

Delighted to officially launch the 2023 #IrishLifeDublinMarathon & announce John Treacy as our Race Starter.

We’ve also introduced a number of inclusive initiatives for our event & a new transfer window for July ???‍♀️

Read more: https://t.co/uLTa9SJZTp#PowerOfSupport pic.twitter.com/IsS0QUYtIp

— Irish Life Dublin Marathon (@dublinmarathon) May 9, 2023

The Dublin Marathon will add to the increased list of other such races around the world that have already started introducing dedicated categories for non-binary people, including events in big cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston and London.

The Dublin Marathon is set to take place on October 29, and it will have a reduced capacity of 22,500 compared to previous years due to infrastructure restrictions. All entries for the race are already sold out, but runners can still hold on to the hope of securing a spot as additional places may become available during a refund window in the first two weeks of June.

Moreover, a new transfer system will open in July to allow runners to transfer their spots in the race to other athletes in case they won’t be able to participate in the event.

This year, Olympic Silver medallist John Treacy has been announced as the official race starter to mark the 30th anniversary of his 1993 win in the Dublin Marathon.