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    'Running While Black' tells a new story about who belongs in the sport

    In a new book, writer Alison Mariella Désir shares her journey into long distance running, reveals the hidden contributions of Black runners and calls for the sport to become more inclusive.
    by Beandrea July Nov 16, 2022 8 minutes
    Cover of Running While Black byAlison Mariella Desir.

    Runners are skinny white people. This was what Alison Mariella Désir thought until she came across a social media post from a friend, a 200-pound Black man, who was training for his first marathon.

    Looking for a way to break through a persistent bout of depression, she signed up for a marathon as well. Much to her surprise, after 16 weeks of training with a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society running club in Manhattan's Central Park, Désir completed the race. And from then on she was hooked.

    In her new memoir Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport That Wasn't Built for Us, Désir tells the story of her non-traditional path to long distance running. Along the way, she reframes the history of American running by including the contributions of little known, yet influential Black runners in the narrative. Runners like ultra-marathon pioneer Ted Corbitt, Olympian and activist Wyomia Tyus and the first Black woman to win a marathon Marilyn Bevans, among others.

    In the decade since her start in the sport, she's completed many runs, including the New York and Boston Marathons and the Run For All Women from Harlem to Washington, DC. She's also served as a founding co-chair of the a nonprofit founded in July 2020 that

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