Thank you, lionesses

Something strange has happened.

I've become interested in football.

Growing up I played football for the girls team at school, but I wasn't even slightly interested in watching it. Yet recently I fund myself desperately trying to catch the Lionesses as they stormed towards the World Cup Final. Live updates on my phone. On the radio in the car. Watching on my phone while sitting in a car park. Devastation when I realised that I would miss the final.

So, what has happened? What's happened is that the Lionesses are like me. They're women. I can relate to them.

So it's not that I'm not interested in football, I just don't get that excited about men's football. Growing up, that's all there was on the TV. Everything was about men's sport. I remember going to a training event with my athletics club and the four GB athletes that were there were men: the men's 4x400m relay team. It's all well and good seeing men achieve athletic greatness, but I can't put myself in their shoes. Other women can't put themselves in their shoes. So just imagine what it's like for young girls who are trying to figure out what it is that they are passionate about.

Which runners do I now look up to and am inspired by? Courtney Dauwalter. Jasmin Paris. Faith Kipyegon. Claire Bannwarth. It doesn't take a genius to work out what they all have in common. Yes, the feats of Kilian Jornet, Damian Hall and Jack Kuenzle are inspiring, but as a woman its just not the same as say, seeing Jasmin Paris obliterate the winter Spine Race record while also expressing milk at checkpoints. We need people that we can relate to in order to be truly inspired. As Sabrina Pace-Humphreys said when the Black Trail Runners spoke at the Fort William Mountain Festival a couple of years ago: "You can't be what you can't see."

I recently did something completely out of character and got into an argument on social media. It was over the poor representation of women in the official film for a local ultra. The vast majority of shots were of men, despite women making up a third of the field. The shots that were included were generally of women's backs or were tightly cropped, and the female winner wasn't even shown. I found the film sad and disappointing, and it certainly didn't make me want to sign up for the race. Calling out the company made me feel very uncomfortable (the people-pleaser in me not wanting to upset anyone), but I couldn't sit back and let it slide. There's a quote about not doing anything important if you're not p***ing someone off... The media company, run by two men, did not take my feedback well, and even claimed to have been inclusive after I had pointed out the lack of women in their film. Hopefully, after emotions have calmed, they see my point and make positive changes for their next film. I realise that this doesn't sound like much, but lots of baby steps lead to big changes.

Running is good for you. It's good for men. It's good for women. And women are really good at running long distances. We want more women going running and taking part in events. But for that to happen, women need to see other women achieving the things that they aspire to. Media companies, TV channels and advertising companies need to give the same amount of time and space to women's sport as they do men's. Race organisers should give equal representation to women and men in their marketing material. If they don't and you spot it then call them out and point them to the guidelines laid out by organisations like SheRACES.

The rise of the Lionesses has been monumental. Whether you're a football fan or not, it's impossible not to see what they have been doing for women's football and perhaps women's sport as a whole. Lets take a moment to appreciate how far women's football has come in this country. The FA banned women from playing football from 1921 to 1971 for fear of them being more popular than the men's game. The ban came a year after a women's game between Dick, Kerr Ladies and St Helens sold out Goodison Park, with a record 53,000 fans in attendance, and an estimated 10-15,000 turned away from the packed stadium. This attendance record would not be surpassed for another 92 years, when 70,584 people watched the GB women's team take on Brazil at Wembley during the 2012 Olympics. During the 50 year ban women were prevented from playing football on professional grounds or pitches belonging to clubs affiliated to the FA. Now, in just 52 years the England women's football team have gone from being banned to the World Cup Final.

Of course, there is still a long way to go before we have equality in sport, but we are living in exciting times. The Lionesses are showing that women CAN and DO compete at the same level as men. But perhaps most importantly, they are an inspiring group of women who have set the stage for the future of women's sports and for the next generation of female athletes.

Thank you, Lionesses.