The Objective for this Website

In 1865 slavery was abolished in America. On that date African-Americans no longer had to ‘run underground’ to gain freedom. On that date they were “free to run” for no other reason than because they felt the natural instinct all human beings have to experience flight through their own will; through the desire to put one foot in front of the other with rapid succession. Unfortunately, because we don’t have to run from this oppression anymore we have stopped running altogether. I want to change this!

With this site my goal is to add a new tradition to the cultural way of living amongst African-Americans. I want to share with others the powerful gift that running is by relating an untold history of blacks in distance running. This is a sport deeply unexplored by minorities in America; and as a person of color heavily involved in the sport I have often asked myself why. I have come to the conclusion that it’s largely due to the many unfamiliar faces in the crowds of runners that children of color in America will see today, but can’t relate to on a personal level. In order to overcome this I felt that it was only right to find out if we had a history in this sport and to find a way to relay this history to others (for example, this site). My aim in doing this is to create a foundation to build a new tradition of health and fitness amongst African-Americans and people of every ethnicity who may come across this site.

Through this site I hope to share knowledge about the sport and our place in it’s history and individuals succeding in the sport today that I hope will be enlightening and empowering. With all that may be written on the blank canvases of this site I hope to help many others, just like myself, run into the light, not from the oppression of slavery, but rather, from a new oppression . . . that of the curable and preventable diseases of diabetes and obesity. In order to be free at this moment in history we must now free ourselves from a traditional way of thinking and living . . . we must change the way we live in order to truly enjoy the freedom we so desparately hoped, fought for and gained in 1865. Lets run not because we have to, but because we can.

The Runners' High

It's no longer a sport, no longer just a game,
It has become a way of life.
Every breath is a stride.
Every heartbeat is a string of silence.
It is a compulsion from deep within.
It is a passion for glory.
To go through the torment, to last through the waiting,
To gain that one moment, alone with myself.
And only the few, who chance to strive,
Can know the experience.
To hear nothing but breath.
To feel nothing but heartbeat.
To feel so much like hell, running so close to heaven.
This is the Runners' High.
This is the feeling I live for.
This is the goal I strive toward.
If my chance disappears, part of my life would end.


-Anonymous

Tony Reed Prefers Running Shoes Over Insulin

"Running Shoes Are Cheaper Than Insulin"

Runner, author, and CPA Tony Reed is 1 of only about 225 people in history who have ever run a marathon on all seven continents! He has inspired runners and non-runners all over the world. He is considerably one of the most important runners we have in America today. Why? His life represents a tradition that doesn’t currently exist among the majority of people of color in America; and his example has sparked a running movement with African-Americans all across America. This movement has been aided not only by his personal achievements, but also by the organization he co-founded, The National Black Marathoners Association.

In 2008 his book Shoes Are Cheaper Than Insulin: Marathon Adventures on All Seven Continents was published. This book highlights his, “25 years of stories . . . about running marathons around the world.” This book is another great contribution to the sport of running and a testament to its’ profound impact on the life of a human being.

Here are a few articles that talks about Tony Reed’s historic achievement of becoming the first black American to complete 7 marathons on 7 Continents:

Cool Running, First Black Runner Finishes Seven Marathons on Seven Continents 

Runner's World, Changing the Face of Distance Running

"Black Americans and the Marathon Distance"

The documentary Black Americans and the Marathon Distance was created a few years ago by Gregory Evans. You can catch a four minute trailer of the documentary on YouTube at this link:Black Americans and the Marathon Distance. At the time of it's release it's topic was very intriguing and relevant: 

"We developed [this] documentary to explore the barriers and/or lack of interest of Blacks running long distances."

This documentary explores a topic relative to the declining health of all Americans, and specifically African-Americans over the past couple few decades. A lack of daily activity in the lives of most Americans has greatly increased the number of men, women and children who are being diagnosed as either diabetic, obese or both. 

It's exploration of the question: 'Why don't people of color run long distance?' has many layers. By the end of the documentary you'll find that there are many answers to the aforementioned question, but I hope that you wont be completely satisfied with these conclusions. My hope is that you'll come away with one more question: If not now, when? In other words, if more people don't take it upon themselves to "run" for their lives, the statistics are only going to grow more discouraging.

Even though it's been a few years since it's release this topic has only grown in relevance. The epidemic increase of lifestyle-related diseases of diabetes and obesity amongst minorities has a direct correlation with both a lack of consistent daily activity (i.e walking, jogging, running) and a diet lacking in adequate nutritional needs in the lives of minorities in America.

The solution to this growing problem doesn't lie solely with more people running, but running can be the start to creating a solution to overcome this health epidemic. Planting one foot at a time forward can be the seed, that watered with more miles and time, will grow into a tree that could bear a fruitful crop of additional solutions.

Reggie McAfee: The First African-American Sub-Four Minute Miler

Reggie McAfee is one of the great heroes in all of sports. McAfee was the first Africa-American to break the 4-minute mile barrier in history. He did so on May 12th, 1973 by running 3 minutes 57.8 seconds. This was a big deal for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons being the first sub-4 minute mile ever run was just less than twenty years prior to McAfee’s run. The first sub-4 minute mile was run by the great Roger Bannister of Great Britain on May 6th, 1954 in a time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. 

Prior to his historic 1-mile run McAfee was Cincinnati’s greatest high school distance runner. He had personal bests of 4 minutes 8 seconds for 1-mile and 1 minute 52.5 seconds for 880 yards. He continued his brilliant running career at the University of North Carolina. It was during his career at UNC that McAfee first broke four minutes for the 1-mile distance.

When considering McAfee’s great achievements as a distance runner during the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s it’s important to remember that African-American’s weren’t considered being capable at distance running. In an article from February 25th, 2001 in the Cincinnati Enquirer McAfee mentions, “Most everybody thought African Americans were sprinters. I just never bought into that.” I believe this way of thinking is still common even today. Near the end of his interview McAfee addresses this issue as to why a lot of kids don’t give distance running a try today. He stated, “Kids have too many choices. Their time is taken up by a lot of different things. Running is quite demanding. If you tell kids they have to run 5 or 6 miles every day, they might not make that choice.”

Over the past 5 decades McAfee and many other distance runners in the African-American community have been pioneers in the sport of distance running in America. They have not only paved a way for young African-American boys and girls to excel in a sport that is deeply unexplored by the African-American demographic today, they have also shown African-American’s of all ages a way to live a healthier life – just by lacing up a pair sneakers and jogging around the track more than once.

Resources for this post: Fay, John. Catching up with Reggie McAfee. Cincinnati Enquirer. FEB 25th, 2001.

The Sub-Four Minute Mile Barrier

My First Sub-Four Minute Mile

The first time I broke the four minute mile barrier for 1-mile was April 11th, 2005. It was and still is a very special day in my running career. Even though my personal best going into the competition was a few seconds outside of four minutes I had a strong feeling and faith that I would break the barrier that day. Here is the video of the race I posted on my YouTube channel and an article written by the Daily Bruin (UCLA's school newspaper) about the race.

Video: My First Sub-4 minute mile

Daily Bruin Article: http://www.dailybruin.com/articles/2005/4/11/m-track-miracle-mile/

First black high school kid to run a Sub-Four minute mile

In the video below I wonder if the kid running is the first black high school kid to run the mile under four minutes?

The truth is he's probably not the first. Furthermore, the achievement of a black high school kid running a sub-four minute mile in high school sports has yet to be achieved. Honestly, aside from the first name (Henry) of the runner mentioned in this Adidas commercial I don't know the identity of the kid running in what for me is a very inspirational commercial.

I think this commercial conveys a powerful message because it represents the idea of progress in an event (the 1-mile run) and a sport (middle and long distance running) that black Americans and most minorities in America have yet to fully take part in.

Personally, as a black or African-American distance runner I've always recognized the lack of participation of minorities in the sport of distance running in America. The majority of minorities with American citizenship whom I've had the honor to befriend and compete against were originally born and have spent a majority of their lives living outside the US. With this fact in mind I've always wondered where the minorities born and raised in America were; why there weren't more people who looked like me running.

There are many possible answers to this question, one possible answer being:

distance running is a sport, activity and way of life that's never been introduced or popularized in the black communities of America like football or basketball has been.

The lack of participation in and a lack of understanding of distance running amongst minorities has led and continues to keep buried a sport and tool I believe can uplift and revolutionize the landscape of black communities and the lives of minorities if it was introduced as a new traditional activity and way of living.

Is this the first black high school kid to run a sub-four minute mile? Probably not, but that doesn't mean some young boy just like him isn't waiting to be inspired by us, his peers, his neighbors and his relatives to become the first. Just look at the setting of this commercial: a community with no soft trails, no track and no peers to run along side him.

If Henry (the character in this commercial) can be inspired internally by a dream and externally inspired by peers to be the first I think its only right we help make this dream and dreams like it a reality in our own communities. If running, an act as simple as walking, could save your life and inspire the lives of others (a life just like Henry's) don't you think it's worth giving it a try?!

Youtube Video/Adidas Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZekgUoo2boI

"I had to run..."

"I had to run. Running was my saving grace, a not-so-ordinary talent I possessed. There was a freedom in movement against the wind that could not be put into words. This was my sacred ritual and rite of passage." 

The above quotation is from the powerful story called The Olympian: An American Triumph  by Craig T. Williams. It's about John Taylor Baxter, Jr., the first African-American Olympic Gold Medalist. I've chosen the above quote as the opening lines of the first post of this blog to mark the first steps of my journey of inspiring minorities, and specifically, African-Americans to lace up their walking shoes and invite the sport of running to be a part of their daily lives. 

In 1865 slavery was officially abolished and freedom officially established throughout the United States of America with the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, which states:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

In the post civil war era John Baxter Taylor, Jr. was the first African-American to use running as a tool to build on the freedom that many Americans fought so hard to establish during the American Civil War (1861-1865). His life is a great example of how the tool of running transitioned from being used to create freedom when it wasn't available to all Americans (i.e. the Underground Railroad) to being used to build upon it once it became available to all Americans.

The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other has been so influential to the positive transformation of my own character that I feel compelled to share it with others. Through my exploration of the history of African-Americans and other minorities in the sport of distance running in America I hope to reveal a greater understanding and appreciation for the positive impact it can have on a person's quality of life. Through my exploration I hope to discover and share stories like John Taylor's that'll inspire others to find within themselves the desire to set themselves free from the limitations of the broader experience of human existence and fight to run towards living a life worth remembering.