The Boston Marathon: A Conversation About Racism, Boston And Running

The Boston Marathon is the world’s most respected and prestigious marathon. It is viewed as the Mecca of Marathons, and the Super Bowl of distance running. In 2017, the Boston Marathon was also a place of uncertainty for many runners in the greater urban running community. The second most pressing concern that weekend has been previously highlighted. The foremost pressing concern at the Boston Marathon this year was: The alarming lack of diversity reflected within Boston’s running community. The urban running community is diverse and vibrating with color. Yet “The Mecca” of all Marathons, the world’s most prestigious and heralded Marathon had an unsavory “whites-only” theme.

Often times, race organizers make attempts to draw a connection between the culture that makes their town/city unique, and the running community. New York Road Runners does a great job of giving all participants a taste of New York City by having a race that finishes at the famous Nathan’s Hot Dogs, and a race course that goes thru Brooklyn’s prestigious Prospect Park. There is also an outstanding pre race party and bib-pickup in the historic DUMBO area of Brooklyn Bridge Park. You may not be from NYC, but if you participate in the Brooklyn Half Marathon, you sure know what it’s like to be a runner in Brooklyn, even if it’s just for a day. The same can be said for the Miami Marathon/Half Marathon. You may not be from Miami, but you certainly will experience the vibrant and colorful culture that makes Miami unique if you ever participate in the race.

As myself and others did our shakeout run the day before the Boston Marathon, one thing was for certain: There just wasn’t much diversity within the city of Boston’s running community. The city of Boston has a longstanding history as it pertains to racism in the greater sports community. The Boston Red Sox were the last Major League baseball team to integrate, and have a black man on its roster. In fact, they intergrated 12 years after Jackie Robinson first broke the color barrier in baseball. Red Sox owner, Tom Yawkey, reluctantly tried out Robinson and other black players in 1949, then proceeded to have them harassed and subjected to racist taunts from the stands to prove a point. During the 2013 ALCS, a Red Sox fan allegedly yelled “Bye, Trayvon” at a Detroit Tigers fan. More recently, outfielder Adam Jones was showered with racial epithets by fans at Fenway Park earlier this season.

Outside of the realm of sports, the city of Boston has a concerning history as it pertains to racial issues. In 1965, legislation was passed in the state of Massachusetts requiring all public schools within the state to integrate. Schools in Boston defied the law for nearly a decade until the NAACP sued the Boston School Committee and won. The resulting busing plan led to tons of outrage, violence and racial tensions thicker than David Ortiz’s mountainous frame. All of this because of integration and equality? So it’s not far fetched to suggest, based off history, that the city of Boston is racially divided. But this is the running community, a melting pot of love, fun, and diversity. Surely the running community in Boston wouldn’t also foster the city’s rich history of segregation and racism in 2017. RIght?

One would argue that the urban running community is not racist, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of world, specifically the city of Boston, may not still have a ways to go in regards to diversity. Myself, and my friends who traveled to Boston to cheer for our fellow crewmates etc, felt like we were the only ones like us that entire weekend. Each time we connected with a person of color, who was running or cheering in the Boston Marathon, it was one of our friends/associates from somewhere other than Boston. As we all indulged in the shakeout run before race day, I couldn’t help but notice the stares from people in the streets. A group of runners running through the streets of Boston isn’t a big deal. But what happens when that group of runners are mostly minorities? People in Boston have never seen a group of black and brown people running before? No, we weren’t heckled or called ni****. However, there was a feeling there. One that did not seem welcoming or engaging in a positive way.

It’s not solely about the Boston Marathon, or Adam Jones being called the n-word. It’s not about overt racism, or one racist fan ruining things for everyone else. People in and outside of the running community experience racism on a daily basis. There are some people who will reject the notion that racism, as it pertains to Boston and the greater running community, does indeed exist. They need to be educated, because racism in the running community is very apparent within the city of Boston. Racism can still function and be reflected in subtle ways that go unnoticed, yet still impact our lives in significant ways. Redlining, racial profiling, rejection by a taxi driver or a social club, affirmative action, The Rooney Rule. All exist because of racism, and all impact our lives in rather significant ways.

I traveled to Boston to celebrate the accomplishments of my friends and family in the running community. Many of them of Filipino, Mexican and unapologetically Black. They all ran an amazing race, but it felt like the only minorities involved in the Boston Marathon were the ones I traveled with. As noted above, Boston has a history of racism. That racism was apparent during that weekend of the Boston Marathon. Ted Corbitt, a Hall Of Fame Runner and legend in the greater running community, went unrecognized during the weekend of the Boston Marathon. Despite having set several course records in Boston, and broken countless color barriers within the running community, his legacy goes unrecognized by Boston running community. Jackie Robinson still gets recognized in Major League Baseball. Ted Corbitt can’t get any recognition for a race he helped make visible and attainable to people of color? Of course he can’t. Why? Because if the the City of Boston had it their way, minorities, Black, Mexican, Asian, Homosexual etc, wouldn’t be allowed to race in “The Mecca” of marathons.

The world we live in is colorful. The running community is vibrant and filled with people of color, people of different sexual orientations, religious beliefs and socio-economic backgrounds. It’s time the Boston running community caught up. Yes, the Boston Marathon has runners of African descent who participate in the race. But the greater running community still looks at Kenyans and other elite runners of color like fetishized super-humans from another planet. The greater running community still doesn’t see full-figured women, especially women of color as runners. The greater running community still sees running as a purview of rich white men. The greater running community still has this whites-only vibe to it. This was most apparent the weekend of The Boston Marathon. If the Boston Marathon is considered “The Mecca” of marathons, what does that say about the greater running community? It say’s it needs to change its racist ways. Thank God there are some running crews out there that are addressing this racist mindset that still exist within the running community.

MAN WHAT A TIME!