That sentiment is reflected by Erika Kemp, 29, who became the fastest U.S.-born Black female marathoner with her debut effort of 2:33:57 at the 2023 Boston Marathon. She’s been inspired to see more women of color racing on the roads since she entered the pro ranks following her All-American collegiate career at North Carolina State.
There is nobody stopping any "person of color" from running. If you can afford sneakers and a pair of shorts, you can run.
I also do not understand why you would need to speak to a black person about running.
Every top runner in the Marathon distance for decades has been a black person.
Every top running in the short races (under 400 meters) is a black person.
How do you know this and write articles about "the most diverse Olympic field" for the Marathon as if somehow black people are excluded from such competition?
The fact is that west African genotypes do extremely well at short distances and East African genotypes do extremely well at long distances. The reason you don't see American blacks (I'm not referring to recent immigrants) at the top of the Marathon field is because they simply do not appear to have what it takes. Anyone who follows the distance knows that the non-blacks who enter the Marathon can't even see the Kenyans and Ethiopians by the time the half way mark is crossed.
Not to insult non-East African runners, but the fact is that all current US marathoners are not competitive. Period.
Instead of talking about how "diverse" the US qualifiers are, how about we get a long term training plan to get US runners qualified to compete with the Kiptums, Kipichoges and Bekeles of the sport?
What good is all the diversity when you finish 10 min behind the winner?
