Hashtags can also tell the story of a group’s goals, purposes, or representation. Staples recommends looking to see if hashtags that match what you’re looking for—such as #sub4orbust if you’re aiming to break four hours in the marathon, or ones like #blackgirlsrun or #latinasrun if you want to find groups where you’ll feel represented—appear on the run club’s pages. You can also try searching for those hashtags to bring you to potential run club pages.
If you’re on the other side—say, a group leader—there are more active steps to take to make sure you’re fostering inclusivity.
While it can certainly be productive to seek out an inclusive run club on your own, the last couple of years have shown us that this work most definitely should not solely fall on the shoulders of underrepresented runners. A hefty dose of the work should fall to the run club administration.
There are some key steps run clubs themselves can take to make sure they are cultivating acceptance—and it all starts with a little bit of introspection as to what the inherent purpose of their club is. According to Su, it’s important to evaluate what your club’s core ultimate goals are. From there, you can ask yourself how you can be sensitive to everyone’s needs.
“If the purpose is simply to help people train or qualify for the Boston Marathon, then own that,” Su says. “From there, think about what would be required to truly help everyone of all body types and paces to get to that goal.”
For example, if your club is comprised of a core group of sub-elite runners focused on competition above all else, it’s perfectly fine to own that publicly: Someone who may not be at that level will likely appreciate knowing this in advance. At the same time, if speed and competition are your club’s core values, but you also want to welcome people of lower ability levels, you can focus on recruiting people in the community with similar but related goals—say, by spreading the word that you’re creating pace groups for people in higher age groups who are wanting to qualify for Boston, or people who are wanting to break four hours in the marathon.
“What feels disingenuous is when clubs or crews say they’re inclusive and want to welcome everybody, but then it doesn’t align with what their original purpose is and then they don’t know how to carry that out,” Su adds.
When it comes to being openly welcoming of marginalized groups—regardless of what the group’s performance-related purposes may be—a great way to start is by putting out a diversity statement, which many groups, large and small, have started doing in the last year. This statement should highlight that you’re committed to boosting representation among your club and you invite members of all backgrounds and experience levels to consider joining.
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According to Staples and Su, another core aspect of doing the work to be truly inclusive is literally meeting people where they’re at. Simply inviting diverse running groups (or individual runners) to join your group in a centrally located, largely homogenous area isn’t going to be as effective as meeting marginalized groups in the areas where they’re largely concentrated. You can start by contacting members of an existing running club and scheduling a joint effort run at their home base.
“Connect with the other existing run clubs that are there, and don’t leave it to those groups to make the efforts in collaborating and creating events in their part of the city, where the minority communities are,” Su says. “Expecting minorities to travel to come to you can be a huge ask, and will likely leave them feeling out of place.”
Between individuals and prominent running community members taking the initiative to create a more inclusive space, the running community as a whole can be several steps closer to being more equitable and welcoming.
“Open invitations are important, but you have to actually go to places where there aren’t people who look like you,” Staples adds. “You’re ultimately going to have to go out, canvas the market and network, and really surround yourself in a community that you are trying to build up.”
See more from SELF’s Guide to Running package here.
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Source: SELF
