Monday Morning Motivation: Rachael Arends

Today’s motivation comes courtesy of American runner Rachael Arends.
Female victories in mixed-gender events remain rare and are usually limited to extreme endurance events.
In 2004 Nature predicted that women would beat men at 100m by 2156. However, the prediction was based on the fact that women’s race times were improving more rapidly than men’s. This was probably down to the restrictions that society had placed on women until relatively recently.

In October 2018, Rachael Arends (aka Rachael Powell) bucked the trend and took first place overall at the Onward Shay! Boise Marathon. The 38-year-old woman won in 3:13:54, over a minute ahead of the second-placed (male) runner.
Read more about Rachael Arends’ win:
- ‘It’s just unheard of’: Meridian woman beat every male runner at Boise marathon
- Woman Beats All the Men by More Than a Minute at the Boise Marathon