This week we’re talking to the Purple Tiger, Rach McBride. Rach tells us about why they picked triathlon over genetics counseling, playing the cello, or working in sexual health—all of which were options. We also talk about why ADD might be good for triathlon and whether a GPS PR for a 1:20 half-marathon goal counts or if you have to run it on a certified course. And Rach will head to the self-organized Canadian Pro Championships coming up.
In the second half of the episode, we spend a long time talking about why Rach came out as gender non-binary earlier this year, at the age of 42, and how the decision made them feel like they finally didn’t feel out of place anymore. (FYI: This means Rach goes by the pronoun 'they' and so we’ll refer to them that way throughout this episode.)
We have a long talk here about what gender non-binary means and why it was important for Rach to be honest about who they are.
Here's the story we did on Rach's decision earlier this year: https://www.triathlete.com/culture/people/rach-mcbride-didnt-intend-to-become-a-non-binary-gender-advocate-for-triathlon/
And, as mentioned, here are some additional resources and articles about what gender non-binary means:
Understanding Non-Binary People (The National Center for Transgender Equality): https://transequality.org/issues/resources/understanding-non-binary-people-how-to-be-respectful-and-supportive
'The Struggles of Rejecting the Gender Binary' (NYT): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/magazine/gender-nonbinary.html
Model Policy on Non-Binary Athlete Inclusion (Athlete Ally): https://www.athleteally.org/model-policy-transgender-inclusion/
This episode is sponsored by MitoQ: www.mitoq.com/poweruptriathlon
