Last month Runner’s World magazine did its “reader’s issue.” A lot of the stories were about the readers of the magazine instead of the running superstars that are normally featured in the magazine. One reader pointed out that it’s very rare to see a black runner on the cover of the magazine.
The editor talked about this in his monthly address at the beginning of the magazine. Lo and behold, there are mostly white runners featured on the magazine because that’s who is reading the magazine. Nearly 90% of readers are Caucasian, 5.2% are Hispanic and a very low 1.2% are African-American. With 13% of the United State population being African-American, one might hope that might be reflected in running demographics, but it is not.
Race in running was not something I thought about until I read last month’s issue of Runner’s World. Whereas some sports with a more visible African-American presence have high barriers to entry, with running all you need is pair of sneakers and some running shorts. With football and basketball, you need those things as well as extra equipment and a space to play the sport. Runners can put on their gear and go wherever they desire.
But in the African-American community, there are not many long distance runners for youths to look up to. The running stars tend to come from the world of sprinting. When I started running, I had been hashing for a few months and watched an episode of Biggest Loser where the contestants ran a half marathon. I told myself, “if they can do it, then so can I.” My parents ran races when I was younger, but stopped when I was a teenager and started focusing on other ways of working out. Other than that, I had no running role models.
With a lack of diversity in the running community, there is an opportunity for runners to reach out to children and teenagers and get them to start running. Without distance running role models for young African-Americans, this trend will continue.
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