IF YOU WANT TO RUN FASTER AND FEEL MORE CONFIDENT, DON’T BE AFRAID TO BECOME MORE COMPETITIVE.

WRITES LUCY WATERLOW

TRAINING

If you search online for a 5K race aimed at women in the UK, you’re most likely to find one marketed as a fun run. From Cancer Research UK’s Race For Life, to Big Fun Run and The Color Run, the emphasis is on completing, not competing. Many events like these don’t even time the race or provide results, because it’s the taking part that counts.

While there’s nothing wrong with this (it’s a fantastic way to get women active and raise money for good causes, after all), what’s wrong with a bit of healthy competition once in a while? A chance to see how fast you can go when you unleash your competitive side and take pride in seeing your name in the results above lots of other runners.

FEAR OF COMPETITION

It seems competition is something many women shy away from. As a 2015 Sport England survey (which prompted its This Girl Can campaign) found, a fear of having to compete with others and a lack of confidence in their own ability were reasons why 75 per cent of 14-40-year-old women weren’t exercising when they would like to be.

This fear of competition seems to start from an early age. A Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation study into why girls’ participation in sport plunges when they become teenagers founds many “disliked competition because it meant people were watching them. They described feeling embarrassed, pressured and judged.”

Of the girls who did embrace their competitive side, it tended to be the ones who were naturally good at sport, with a lack of confidence again holding the noncompetitive girls back. They said they felt “embarrassed by a lack of skill” and anxious about “not being good enough”.