Raising Voices of BIPOC Women Runners
host and producer of the Strides Forward podcastAugust 24, 2020
Cherie Louise Turner is host and producer of the Strides Forward podcast.
The world of running, especially distance running, is predominantly white and focused on men.
Not here. This list highlights the voices of BIPOC women from all experience and ability levels, amplifying the powerful and diverse voices in the sport that have not been heard enough. Some of these women run far, some run really fast, some run for therapy, some are changing the image of what a runner looks like, and others have formed communities and organizations around running.
The one thing they all share is that this simple motion of putting one foot in front of the other has a meaningful place in their lives.
All of these interviews and stories are hosted or narrated by women (a place that is close to my heart, as a women who hosts and produces a narrative podcast about long-distance running the women who compete in the sport, Strides Forward.)
Dr. Tiffany Chenault is a professor of sociology at Salem State, runner, and an ambassador for Black Girls Run in Boston. Chenault talks with host and professional runner Dana Giordano about how she got into running, navigating the sport as a black woman, and the book she is writing about her journey to run a half-marathon in every state.
Co-hosts India Cook and Tommy Mitchell check in with 2020 Olympic Trials Marathon Champion Aliphine Tuliamuk. In her trademark down to earth style, Tuliamuk discusses earning her spot on the Olympic team and how she’s adjusting to racing and the Games being put on hold. I particularly appreciated learning more about how Tuliamuk got started in running in her country of origin, Kenya, as well as her love of nursing.
Host Emily Abbate discusses life hurdles and successes with Olympic Gold medal 400-meter runner Natasha Hastings. We learn about every milestone of Hastings’s running career, how she overcame negative self-talk, looking the part of the race diva she is, and her journey into motherhood. This interview is full of inspiration and realness.
Jay Ell Alexander is the CEO of Black Girls Run (BRG), a new mother, a runner, and a children’s book author. In this interview Alexander talks about taking on her CEO role, the way BGR is developing community and inspiring women to run, her experiences with motherhood, and why she wrote a book.
Ultra-runner Filsan Abdiaman discusses how she got into running, going from 5ks and then ultimately to utlras. She’s very open with host Mel Offner about the mental struggles she’s gone through and how processing those struggles inspired her to create the running community she founded, Project Love Run.
Co-hosts Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea speak candidly to runners Brandi Dockett and Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, who is also a bishop, about their experiences in running as black women, what we can all do to keep the antiracism momentum going and create change, and more: “Start somewhere; then see where it leads; and keep going,” said Bishop Baskerville-Burrows.
Go to 21:00 to hear this interview between co-host Amira Rose Davis and Alison Mariella Désir, who is a runner, mental health advocate, and activist, and she’s the founder of Harlem Run, Run 4 All Women, and Global Womxn Run Collective. Désir shares her thoughts about running as a black woman in the US, being the new mom to a black son, the experience being a spokesperson for black runners against the backdrop of it being a white-dominated sport, maintaining mental health, and the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery. And, what next?
Host Gale Straub discusses the many facets of being a role model with ultra-runner, author, public speaker, community builder, and image remaker Mirna Valerio. In this rich conversation, Valerio discusses what running and being in nature brings to her life, judgement around physical appearance in the running community, the myth of what a healthy body looks like, how the outdoor industry doesn’t acknowledge the full spectrum of bodies that participate in outdoor activity, and how she processes being a public figure.
runningBIPOCsportsathleteswomenfeminist