At a recent meeting of members of Black Men Run and Black Girls Run! in Boston, organizer Jeff Davis asks the group why they showed up. Peace, gratitude, freedom, joy and love are some of the answers.
Runners take a moment to remember those who have gone before them: the ancestors; enslaved people who fled those who enslaved them; Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed while fleeing. “We run because they can’t,” Davis said.
Why we wrote this
Running is often considered a hobby that anyone wearing a pair of sneakers can pursue. But what about those who feel less welcome? In Boston, local clubs aim to recruit black runners and promote camaraderie — and freedom.
These clubs are among many in the area working to change the perceptions of community members, many of whom did not grow up in an environment conducive to distance or recreational running. Leaders aim to create opportunities that provide camaraderie and allow more people to experience the freedom and liberation that running provides.
“When people see us running down the street, they know who we are and they welcome us,” says Sidney Baptista, founder of Pioneers Run Crew.
Back at the joint event, a girl in a bright red shirt sprints alongside her dad as she completes her 5-mile loop through the Dorchester neighborhood. As the young runner crosses the finish line, arms raised in victory, Black Girls Run! leader Katonya Burke exclaims, “That’s it! This is the next generation!
Boston
When Sidney Baptista started running nearly a decade ago, he knew he would have to find a daily route outside of his own Boston neighborhood.
The close-knit Cape Verdean community of Dorchester was at home, but it did not offer the company of other runners. He would instead lace up his shoes and head to more affluent areas of Boston, like Back Bay, Cambridge and along the Charles River to practice his hobby. It became an escape, a gift for mind, soul and body, he says. And yet, the more he ran, the more he realized that it didn’t make sense to shuttle between different neighborhoods just to run a few miles. When he tried to invite his friends and family, they always turned him down.
“People around me were like, ‘What are you doing?’ he says. So instead, he brought them racing.
Why we wrote this
Running is often considered a hobby that anyone wearing a pair of sneakers can pursue. But what about those who feel less welcome? In Boston, local clubs aim to recruit black runners and promote camaraderie — and freedom.
Mr. Baptista started the Pioneers Run Crew in 2017. Since then, he and his “team captains” have encouraged hundreds of new recruits and expanded a network of runners from diverse backgrounds across Boston. His group is one of many in the area working to change perceptions among community members, many of whom did not grow up in an environment that favored distance or recreational running. Leaders aim to create opportunities that provide camaraderie and allow more people to experience the freedom and liberation that running provides.
“When people see us running down the street, people know who we are and they welcome us,” Mr. Baptista says of the path his group has taken, with their brightly colored gear.
Only 4% of respondents to a 2020 Running USA survey identified as black. Athletes of color often turn to basketball, football and track and field in hopes of “going pro,” Mr. Baptista, an entrepreneur and community organizer, says in an interview in his Dorchester office. For many people in the neighborhoods he works with, long-distance running doesn’t live up to that promise. He adds that national social inequalities and the red line have forced people of color to live in neighborhoods that lack the infrastructure, including properly maintained sidewalks, to support outdoor running. Safety – from traffic and sometimes from crime – is also a concern.
Fear can also be a barrier to running for black people, says Katonya Burke, Boston ambassador for the national group Black Girls Run! They sometimes worry about not having the right equipment, time or people to run with. “The first step is to do it, to go ahead and do it…it’s the courage and the dedication to start this business,” she says.
Ms. Burke, along with other Boston running advocates like Mr. Baptista and Jeff Davis, who founded the Boston chapter of Black Men Run, are working to change the views that push people away.
Melanie Stetson Freeman / Staff
At a recent meeting between Ms. Burke’s and Mr. Davis’ groups in Dorchester, Tiffany Gayle Chenault, a sociology professor at Salem State University, explained the importance of representation in the race as she and a Monitor reporter were coming down a hill.
“When people think of runners, they don’t think of people who look like us,” says Ms. Chenault, who has studied gender racism in white running spaces. When Americans think of runners, she says, they think of East Africans who run and often win the Boston Marathon, or suburban whites who exercise in their neighborhoods. “They don’t think about people who look like me.”
She says visibility is one way to approach this. “It’s important to see other people who look like you breaking down barriers.”
Ms. Burke of Black Girls Run! is known on Boston’s black running circuit for her cheerful enthusiasm and ability to inspire even the most reluctant to hit the pavement. If people are able to relax their thoughts around running, it will be an easier and more fulfilling experience, she explains.
She knows a thing or two about resilience, as a truck driver, single mother of a teenage son and six-time marathon runner. Although she has a supportive running coach, she appreciates the connections she has made through Black Girls Run! “There’s a lot going on in my world,” she says. “The ladies are a safe space. They allow me to see that I am not alone.
This community support takes place in the city that hosts the Boston Marathon, one of the oldest (first held in 1897) and most famous running events in the United States. As women and people of color increasingly form part of the crowds of fans crossing the finish line, the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) has only been collecting racial demographics of its participants since 2021, says Adrienne Benton, who was recently the first woman of color to be named to the organization’s board of directors.
Melanie Stetson Freeman / Staff
The BAA is making a conscious effort to reduce the social inequalities that deter people from running, Ms Benton says. Through its Boston Running Collaborative, the BAA has brought together existing organizations that support disadvantaged communities.
Local race organizers often point out that the camaraderie and shared experiences around running provide ways to take care of yourself. “Health and well-being in the black community is not something we talk about enough,” says Mr. Davis of Black Men Run. “Especially mental health.
The summer of 2020 was a turning point for Mr. Davis. The murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and Breonna Taylor infuriated him. Around the same time, he had to lay off 20 people from his company due to the economic downturn during the pandemic. “I was an emotional mess,” he says.
Then his wife suggested he take part in a community run. He enjoyed it so much that he decided to organize a local chapter of Black Men Run. It’s a space where black men can be together, support each other and be themselves, he says. Each week they meet is an opportunity to grow together. “As long as we wake up and are black, we run.” said Mr. Davis.
Chris Ajuoga/The Christian Science Monitor
During the recent meeting in Dorchester of his team and Black Girls Run!, Mr. Davis asks the group why they showed up. Peace, gratitude, freedom, joy and love are some of the answers.
The group then takes a moment to remember those who came before them: the ancestors; enslaved people who fled those who enslaved them; Mr. Arbery, who was killed while fleeing. “We run because they can’t,” Davis told the group. For these athletes, it’s more than what happens on the pavement, it’s all they take with them long after the calm has cooled down.
About an hour and a half later, as the runners return to the starting point, a young girl in a bright red shirt, Sekai Boyd, sprints with her father, Jason, by her side as she completes her 5-mile loop. Loud applause erupts from the sidewalk as the group cheers him on. No one is louder than Mrs. Burke – not even the Sekai brothers watching their father struggle to keep up, a wide smile stretched across his face.
As the young girl crosses the finish line, her arms raised in victory, Mrs. Burke exclaims, “That’s it! This is the next generation!