Running has always been a love and hate relationship with me. As much as I hated running, I always found myself up early in the morning with thousands of other runners eager to cross the finish-line. I first heard of Black Girls Run when I ran a women’s 10k race in Central Park. In a sea of thousands of female runners, a young African-American woman stood out from all the rest with a shirt that simply said “Preserve the Sexy/Black Girls Run”. I couldn’t wait to finish the race to find out what Black Girls RUN! was all about.
Black Girls RUN! was started by Toni Carey and Ashley Hicks initially as a blog to chronicle their experiences of getting fit through running, but quickly became a movement to encourage African-American women to make fitness and healthy living a priority. To date, there are 60 running groups across the nation offering encouragement and resources to new and veteran runners.
Since hearing about Black Girls RUN! nearly a year ago, my relationship with running has come full circle with the camaraderie of the Black Girls RUN! NYC group. Through group runs, regular discussions on the group’s Facebook page, and even pre-race pasta parties, running has become more exciting for me. So exciting that I will be running my first half marathon along the side of nearly 100 group members proving that Black Girls Run!
JohnSimonDaily caught up with Toni Carey and Ashley Hicks as they celebrated the third anniversary Black Girls RUN! at Phyto Universe. To find out more about Black Girls Run or find a running group near you, please visit www.blackgirlsrun.com.