I'll say up front I haven't read all of the posts, so I apologize straight up for that. However, I appreciate your interest in this matter--if nothing else it gives a platform for discussion. This is a potentially "hot" topic, and I will say that I respect others point of view, even if I can't see it from where I stand.
I wrote an article probably 10 or more years ago about Title Nine and sports. It essentially argued that it existed because it was needed in order to reset the balance in sports participation among females, and it was a matter of time and generations that would benefit from it. If you are a man, and white, you will likely not be able to see the level of imbalance in gender, race, and sexual orientation simply because of your station in life--even IF you are pluralistic in thought and interaction. This will apply to life in general and in sport. That is my opinion--and I am not an angry "feminist" per se...not that there is anything wrong with that either. There are plenty of studies that can support this notion of people being treated differently based on gender, age, race, etc.
Let's fast forward to the most recent news:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/...tion-does-not-p.html Both women and gay people are NOT supported constitutionally for equal rights, and I do think that this is represented in our culture.
During the democratic primaries I thought that a black man had a better chance to be president than a white woman due to cultural bias. There were plenty of discussions on this specific matter, one of which I vividly recall on NPR. What does this have to do with women only races? ALOT!!!
I have never done a womens only race, and don't want to. I can see the merit in this tho. I once worked in a women's only gym, and honestly it served it's purpose at the time and now we don't really see them. Same thing with women only sections in regular gyms....not very many women in them now. However, it serves it's place in time now for many reasons.
Women (generally) have not been brought up to be sporting and physically tough or athletic. There is a significant gender inequality in society that reaches beyond sport to income and equal rights. (see ruling by Scalia) Women only races? If it promotes more women to participate while excluding men in that specific event, why not? There are not very many of these events compared to mixed gender races. It's not like women have all the rights as it is, and it's not creating an imbalance and an excess of women to men participation... Why would women want a race all to themselves? Perceptions about how men will treat them or interact with them? Likely. Is is valid? Likely.
Which makes me think of the time that a guy tried to run me off the road in a triathlon because I passed him. He chased me down and taunted me (screamed vulgarities at me) to the finish line.....because I was a girl. True story. When women have more constitutional rights than men, make up a majority of race participation, earn a greater income solely based on gender, etc. etc... then I will agree that they (we) should NOT have a race just for one gender. Until then, it's a race for a minority group of people who want an emotionally (at the least) safer environment to get their groove & sport on. I support it for now, but will prefer to pass the dudes who have women issues. ;~)
edited for typos....but I'm sure there are more!