Boston Marathon
Every year, the Boston Marathon attracts thousands of participants and spectators from around the globe. However, the unique perspectives of female and indigenous runners often go unnoticed. Learn more about their stories and perspectives on the Boston Marathon here.
Remembering History: Boston Marathoners Will Be Running on Indigenous Trails
The Boston Marathon has attracted people from multiple countries to take on the 26-mile challenge, yet many do not pay attention to the indigenous trails they are running on. A panel of indigenous runners and advocates at the Boston Marathon Expo on Friday brought awareness to the deep spiritual meaning long-distance running holds in the indigenous community.
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Writer and motivational speaker Larry Spotted Crow Mann from the Nipmuc tribe wants marathoners on Monday to honor the history of the land. “Folks need to understand that they are not only running to compete in this most prestigious race, but this goes back eons, you know, folks were chasing mammoths along that route and sabertooth tigers.”
The once vast indigenous lands comprising almost two-thirds of Massachusetts have been reduced to only five acres, forcing tribes to live on small reservations. Monday’s marathon course traverses the homelands of the Mashpee Wampanoag, the Massachusett, and the Pawtucket people.
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“We are all guests on stolen indigenous lands. If you’re running out there tomorrow or cheering,remember whose land you’re on. Please remember the original caretakers who are still being voices for the land, even if they’ve been dispossessed, or forcibly relocated, or removed from their homelands,” Crow Mann said.
Not only is the land sacred to the indigenous peoples but the tradition of running itself holds ritual power. Verna Volker from the Navajo Nation founded Native Women Running to encourage women to take off on this spiritual journey. ”Running is our healing, running is our medicine and running is our prayers. These women are sharing stuff with me about healing from their personal trauma but also healing from this historical and generational trauma,” Volker said.
Jordan Marie Daniel from the Kul Wicasa Lakota tribe is one of the women who has found healing in running, overcoming an eating disorder, and an abusive relationship. For Daniel, running the Boston Marathon for a fundraiser in 2016 was the first step in combining running with advocacy. “For a long time, I kept it separate.
I compartmentalized my life keeping advocacy away from running and from family. But I feel like a lot of what we’re seeing now is that runners and athletes are starting to intersect their love and passion for running and the things that they care so much about.”
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This weekend Daniel will bring visibility to violence against indigenous women: “It just got to a boiling point of feeling fed up and giving up on humanity for not caring about indigenous peoples and these women and families and survivors. And so I choose to dedicate all 26 miles to 26 missing indigenous women and girls, two of them being my cousins. It opened up this whole new doorway to athlete advocacy and it’s made running more meaningful and purposeful.”
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Runner Craig Curley from the Navajo Nation also believes the Boston Marathon to be a good opportunity to raise awareness for the indigenous community. “When I am running out there, I think about history. I see Eliot “Tarzan” Brown, who was murdered, he ran and won the Boston Marathon but you don’t know how he died. A lot of things have been isolated and forgotten. I feel that being together on the course and running makes for a better future. People are trying to run the race because people get to see outside of our community who we are, that we are regular people who just want good lives.”
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Volker emphasizes the journey over competitiveness and that you can get into running at any time. “I didn’t grow up elite or running in generations, but I found running later in life in the midstof motherhood with two little boys and this also resonates with the story of women who never thought they would be runners as someone who’s slow and someone who’s just embracing her own journey.”
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Curley also wants to embrace the moment on Marathon Monday instead of stressing about the competition. “I think this is important to notice that you could have the best race that has the best rewards, the best or fastest course but ultimately the thing that makes me want to come here is the community.”
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Both Curley and Daniel will be running the marathon, planning to honor their traditions on Monday. “Traditionally, it’s important for us to wake up early. And we believe that early in the morning is the best time to send your prayers up. So we give our blessings, and I feel very honored to be running this course,” Curley said. Volker will be cheering from the sidelines to fight for indigenous visibility. “One of the things that I always tell them is to take up space. I told them that both of them deserve to be here. They deserve to be at the Boston Marathon. I’m telling them to show up and we’re going to be there for them along the course, and cheering them on.”
This year’s Boston Marathon showed that women are still undermined in the running industry with all eyes on Sisay Lemma as he crossed the finish line on Monday. Female winner Hellen Obiri received significantly less media coverage compared to Lemma. A panel of female leaders in running discussed creating equal opportunities and a better environment for women to thrive in the sport at the Boston Marathon Expo on Friday.
While running is primarily viewed as a sport in the United States, in other countries, running can open doors beyond athletics. Kenyan marathoner Mary Ngugi launched the Nala Track Club to empower women to break out of traditional roles and abusive situations. In Kenya, the relationship between women and sports is troubled by gender-based violence and sexual abuse against female athletes. ”Nala Track Club is all about giving the girls a safe space, empowering them, giving them the confidence they need to know that they can say no, that they can do better, and that they don’t have to stay in abusive relationships,” Ngugi said. It’s about introducing them to alternatives to realize their full potential. “We try to inspire them to be more than just a mom and a wife because what you don’t see you can’t be.“
Violence against female athletes is not just an issue in Kenya but also in the United States. Fear of harassment and sexual abuse keeps women from training, and many who have endured abuse are too traumatized to continue their sport. Others drop out of running because of abusive male coaches which is why Ngugi focuses not just on creating athletes but also female coaches that can relate to female runners and exercise the empathy that is needed to draw more women into a male-dominated field.
“Nala Track Club is developing the girls and empowering them as well as developing female coaches. Many of them are abused by coaches, the people they trust. There aren’t many female coaches out there and I believe if there were many, they’ll be able to talk about these issues and they’ll be able to stand up against the men who are doing this,” Ngugi said.
Women in running encounter unique challenges that are often unrelated to those faced by men, juggling multiple roles of being an athlete and a mother at the same time. Former runner and coach Sarah Healy’s life changed forever when she had her son. “Going from being an athlete to a mother was really difficult. My son is 18 years old. There just wasn’t that support and understanding about that transition then. I kind of got removed from the sport. It was difficult to go back to compete.” Healy wants to provide more support than she had back then. “I do hear it from the athletes a lot, just even feeling comfortable coming to practice having someone to talk to about the issues they’re dealing with. I think particularly with master women, as you get older your body’s different, you can handle different things. Having someone who understands the challenges and gets where they’re coming from, I think really helps and has gotten more women out there.”
Coach and marathoner Amanda Watters is also working behind the scenes of the Boston Marathon to bring more women into the sport by creating equal opportunities. When she found out that the number of women required to score for a team was less than the number of men required for scoring, Watters took action.” If you’re asking for fewer women to participate, of course it’s going to be fewer women willing to participate. I worked really hard with my long-distance running committee to change those rules for both the open division as well as the master’s division. Now as of last year, all divisions for women and men score with the same number of runners. We’re starting to see the numbers equalize a little bit better, which is good.”
While there is still more work to be done at the Boston Marathon to create gender equality, athlete recruiter Mary Kate Shea, who has participated in the race 25 times and contributed to its organization for decades, has already noticed significant change: ”I would say my biggest achievement is from 26 years ago when only about 10 to 12 professional women were recruited for the Boston Marathon to today where we are bringing in 55 of the best women athletes in the world to match the 55 best male athletes. That is something I’m really proud of to extend that scope and scale of the talent.” While Ngugi didn’t make it to the podium this time, three Kenyan women did. The first American woman to finish was Emma Bates who briefly spoke at the panel as well: “Just explode. You just run your heart out. So run with your head the first half, run with your heart the second half and I promise Boston will give you a good time.”