'Running While Black' Episode 2: Black Runners Changing Their Communities & The Sport As A Whole

For many runners — especially Black runners — the sport represents much more than just crossing the finish line. It can symbolize community, togetherness, and support.

Just ask the members of We Run Brownsville, a grassroots organization that encourages women to take control of their physical and mental health through running.

In a neighborhood like Brownsville, which is located in east Brooklyn, New York, such an institution not only impacts individuals directly, but the community at large, too. “Brownsville has the highest concentration of public housing in the country,” explains Dionne Grayman, who co-founded We Run Brownsville with Sheila Barksdale-Gordon in 2015. “There are 18 public housing developments on just over two square miles of land. This was not by us — this was done by design.” 

In a neighborhood lacking investments in infrastructure, something as simple as running outdoors can prove challenging. “We [couldn’t] have women learning how to run [while] looking for potholes,” says Gordon. So, the group reached out to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and elected officials for help in improving the condition of public spaces in Brownsville, like Betsy Head Park, where members of We Run Brownsville practice on the track. Since then, the organization has been vital in bettering the community, even recently leading the development of a Black women-led business center. 

What began as something to help women take control of their health has organically morphed into something much greater, says Gordon. “We Run Brownsville, meaning we run, start, and create in our own community. It’s not about the running — it’s about that connection. It’s about knowing that there’s another Black woman who genuinely cares for [you], and that we got your back.” 

But We Run Brownsville is just one part of the rich and storied legacy of Black runners in America. Farther south, in Jacksonville, Florida, historian Gary Corbitt is preserving his father’s mark on the sport by making sure his name — and the names of his predecessors — are never forgotten. Ted Corbitt, often referred to as “the father” of long-distance and ultra-marathon running, was not only a record-holding athlete, but a pioneer and advocate for inclusivity in professional running despite facing racism both on and off the track throughout the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. For him, running also likely represented something deeper — a literal and figurative push forward.

Perhaps history-making athletes like Corbitt have helped give courage to contemporary runners like Andraya Yearwood. As a Black trans athlete from Connecticut, the 20-year-old has faced adversity, racism, and transphobia. And despite having been able to tune out societal resistance to trans athletes, Yearwood explains that a lawsuit in 2020 that sought to prevent trans athletes from participating in women’s sports led to anxiety — and a lack of desire to compete as a runner. “I was exhausted from having to defend myself,” she says. 

Yearwood may not run competitively anymore, but she still runs for something else: pure, unbridled joy. Sometimes, running can simply be about that, too.

To learn more about We Run Brownsville, Gary and Ted Corbitt, and Andraya Yearwood watch the second episode of Running While Black, a new series created by Vice and adidas that spotlights Black runners in America, above.