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LONDON – When Jessica Anderson joined more than 40,000 runners in the 2019 London Marathon last week, she had one goal in mind: to break the Guinness world record for the fastest woman to run the marathon in a nurse's uniform.
Mrs. Anderson, a nurse from the Royal London Hospital, crossed the finish line in 3 hours 8 minutes 22 seconds, breaking the 2015 record set by Sarah Dudgeon by 32 seconds.
Record accomplished? Not so fast.
Guinness rejected the record because Ms. Anderson was not wearing a dress, she said in an interview Sunday. Anderson had run the London Marathon in blue, loose scrubs – the uniform she wore as a nurse from the National Health Service – to raise funds for her unit's charity fund.
"They said it had to be a white or blue dress, an apron and a white cap, otherwise it would not be considered a record," Ms. Anderson said in an Instagram post on Sunday. "I did not want to wear that, so I chose to wear my real uniform because the title of the record is" The fastest marathon in nurse uniform, "she added." But we were still aiming for the record time."
She also noted, "I have certainly never seen a nurse wear a dress at work."
Ms. Dudgeon, the record holder, led the 2015 London Marathon in a nurse's outfit including a Red Cross apron and cap. It is not known if she worked as a nurse.
The fact that Ms. Anderson was denied the merit of her feat because of what many considered to be an outdated sexist criterion, prompted social media users and nurses to share photos of their real uniforms on Twitter under the hashtag "What Nurses Wear".
Dozens of nurses and nurses, men and women alike, have published photographs of themselves in white, blue, dark red and purple scrubs, usually a two-piece outfit with a trousers.
"Nursing is about the care we provide, not the uniform we wear," Samantha Knipe said in an interview. tweet.
Scott Westwater, a nursing student, asked Could Guinness World Records "send this nurse back if she happened to be a man rather than a woman," he added, "not only do you not respect the female sex, but the profession of medicine?" nurse wonderfully open in general.
"Let's change the archaic view", published on Twitter the Student Nurse project of the online community.
In response to the reaction, Guinness World Records announced Saturday that it would return to the criteria of the title of the disc.
"It is clear that this title and the associated guidelines are long overdue, a review that we will lead in priority in the coming days," said the group in a statement.
The episode is part of a much broader debate about the disparities faced by female athletes in general, including members of the US women's football team. sued for gender-based discrimination in March over pay equity and working conditions – or the right to compete. Caster Semenya, double Olympic champion in the 800 meters, lost a challenge on the proposed limits for female athletes with Naturally high testosterone level.
But the advertisement surrounding Ms. Anderson's case helped her to achieve another goal: by Sunday she had raised more than £ 3,000 (about $ 3,950) for Barts Charity, a non-profit organization that supports the acute admissions unit where she works in East London – savagely. exceeding its original target of £ 500.
She said Sunday that the attention was "a real surprise".
"The vast majority of comments have been very positive, especially from other nurses," said Ms. Anderson, adding that "the chief nurses of England, Scotland and 39, Northern Ireland had all tweeted pictures of themselves in uniform!
The London Marathon was shot last week after cleaning crews discovered seemed to target slow runners with insults.
Elizabeth Ayres, who was walking a group supposed to finish in half past seven, told the BBC Thursday that she had heard comments such as "If you were not so fat, you could run" and " It's a race, not a walk. "She said she would prefer that the race be canceled rather than the people we talk to like that."
London marathon director Hugh Brasher apologized to Ayres and her teammates on Thursday.
"We are absolutely determined to understand what has happened" he told the BBC. "It will take time, but I can assure you that the investigation will be thorough and that changes will be made."
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