by Marcus Ryder
In 1980 only 11% of marathon finishers in America were women, last year it was 42%. For half-marathon runners women are now in the majority (approximately 60%). While those stats are for American runners I suspect that a similar trend is mirrored here in the UK. The number of women taking part in distance running has grown beyond recognition from when large participatory marathons first started in the 1970’s and 80’s. And let’s not forget it wasn’t until 1984 that women were even allowed to run the marathon at the Olympics.
So while the gender barriers seem to be tumbling down their seems to be another barrier when it comes to distance racing:
Black people do not run marathons
This is all the more surprising considering that nearly all the top marathon runners, both male and female, are African. The one statistics that I have found is striking; according to the largest survey of runners in America, the biannual National Runner Survey, only 1.6% of marathon runners are black. While those types of statistics are not kept in Britain it definitely chimes with my own personal experience. I have run four marathons and several smaller distances in the last year and I would be surprised if even 1% of my fellow runners were black – and this includes the Rio de Janerio Marathon – a city with a sizable non-white population.
I am consistently one of only a handful of black people at races and when I read running blogs and running magazines they are clearly aimed at a well healed middleclass white demographic.
The question is “Why?”. Why aren’t more black people running marathons, half marathons or even 5k fun runs?
The barriers to entry to start running are incredibly low. In fact you could argue that it is the cheapest participatory sport to start, needing only a pair of running shoes, shorts and T-shirt.
I’ve never experienced any racism (overt or otherwise) from my fellow runners. The lack of black runners is definitely not equivalent to the lack of female participation 30 years ago when the sexism was often overt and crude.
No – I think the barriers are cultural and self-perpetuating. Black people don’t run marathons because they don’t see people like them at running clubs where they train. Where there are running clubs that make a conscious effort to attract a multicultural membership like theRun Dem Crew, organised by a black person, black people are disproportionately represented.
Another problem is that black people are often portrayed, and marketed to, as elite athletes. I could wax lyrical about some of the stereotypes in this but the reality is a lot of black people buy into the stereotypes. And so it takes a shift in perception that taking part in a race has almost nothing to do with the position you finish or the time you complete it in. It is a way of taking part in sports that culturally has not been marketed towards black people previously. You are definitely not trying to “Be Like Mike” or any other great sports personality when you are running a marathon, you are just trying to be better than the person you were yesterday and the day before that.
But Black people do want to run. Every black friend I have tells me how they want to run but always have a reason why they can’t (an old sports injury, lack of free time, etc). Running and all the sports we do have a huge cultural dynamic – Why pick cricket over basketball? Or basketball over football? Or even chess over poker?
I believe that black participation in running is a sleeping giant. Right now participation might be only 1% but given the right running clubs and targeting the right races that could easily change and hopefully will.
This blog was originally posted on The Sound of Running Blogspot.