So much more than tampons - Live from the IRONMAN World Championships

We're back on the Big Island for the IRONMAN World Championships!

Today, Feisty CEO Sara Gross and co-host Carrie Barrett dig into Woven, IRONMAN’s new multi-year initiative to get more women to the start line — and keep them there.

We hear from Ironman’s Managing Director of North America and Senior Vice President of World Championship Events, Diana Bertsch, and Woven expert ambassador Dr. Erin Ayala, about what it actually is, the short and long term goals of this initiative, and why a little healthy skepticism is very much warranted.

A few takeaways:

Women make up just 27% of the field in Kona this year. So yeah…there’s room to grow.
Woven says it’s playing the long game: test, learn, fix what doesn’t work, and scale what does.
This has to be about more than tampons in porta-potties. Think childcare, cost, flexibility, race-day support, access, and real inclusion.
Ironman can’t fix the patriarchy. But it can stop adding to the barriers.

Look, we’re spicy optimists over here. We want Woven to work. But - we’re also going to keep asking the hard questions. That's how Feisty started, after all.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Hettas.com use code: stayfeisty for 20% off at https://hettas.com/

Orca.com: Use the code FEISTY15 for 15% off at https://orca.avln.me/c/HzUkzIfxsmYo

Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr

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