PREGNANCY DEFERRALS
Search our database to find out which races offer pregnancy deferrals that match the SheRACES standard
Pregnancy Deferral Database
We believe that no woman should be penalised for having a child and that she should be able to take her place on the start line when she is fit, healthy and ready. Pregnancy, and then returning to running postpartum, can be a difficult journey for women and the running community needs to actively support us. This is why we advocate for fair pregnancy deferral policies. It's one of our core missions. While we understand race organisers have fixed costs, the proportion of women who might want to defer each year for pregnancy is very small, and this is more than offset by the value of inclusivity.
We know that women want these policies in place, giving them the confidence to enter an event knowing that their place is protected should they fall pregnant, while also reducing the pressure they may feel to get back to racing too soon. If a woman has just become pregnant before a race, she may not be ready to race a year afterwards (as is often the standard in pregnancy deferral policies), especially given current guidelines are not to resume any running for at least 12 weeks post birth.
This database lists global races and highlights their pregnancy deferral policy, or lack of one, to help women make informed choices about the events they want to enter. Some of these events offer optional insurance policies upon entry, or offer transfer options to another participant, but as these are available to all athletes for all reasons, they do not constitute a pregnancy policy. Only those events that have a clear and easy to find pregnancy policy meet our standards.
The SheRACES guidelines on pregnancy deferrals, which outline our minimum standards, are:
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Races with no lottery/ballot
Races should offer pregnant women a deferral for at least 2 years, or a full refund.
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Races with a lottery/ballot
Places won should be rolled over for at least 2 years. For races that require points, qualifying times, or have double entry lottery bonuses if unsuccessful in the main draw, these should also be carried over.
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Payment
Women should not be expected to pay again for a place that they have already secured.
In this table you can search for events using the Search tab, or use the Sorting options in any column. We have also identified those events that do, or do not, meet the SheRACES guidance.
Y = the event offers FREE deferral of places for at least 2 years, or a full refund (for non-ballot races)
Partial = the event offers FREE deferral of places for 1 year; or the event offers PAID deferral of places for at least 2 years
N = all other events
** The information in this table is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. If you spot an error, or a policy has changed, please let us know – details at the bottom of this page, under the table **
Please note that this is a large table and may take a moment to load in your browser. You can also click the Spreadsheet button above to view the data, though this is not searchable or sortable, which the table data is.
Contribute to the database
This is a huge project and we can't do it alone! We have included as many races as our resources allow, and we are grateful to volunteers who have contributed to this database to get it into the shape it is now.
WE NEED YOUR HELP to build it further.
If you want to submit your race to our database to highlight your pregnancy policies, or you have participated in an event that has a good pregnancy deferral policy, please use the 'Add A Race To The Database' form. If you want to highlight an error or require an amendment to a race already listed, please use the 'Highlight Error or Amendment' form.