Ep 17 - It's All About The Race!

We’ve been on a lil' hiatus but The Start Line Girls are back with a special edition to kick off the start of Black History Month for the UK.

Following the successes experienced by our running crew @emancipatedruncrew over the summer, namely being featured in The Running Channel, working with @blackcrewsunited in organising The Carnival Run 2020 (running the route of the Notting Hill Carnival with flags, whistles, speakers), and Dee and Jules being featured in the Telegraph’s Women’s Supplement we thought we couldn't top all this. That is until Tes Sobomehin-Marshall, founder of @runningnerds and founder and Race Director of The Race Unity Collective agreed to guest on our podcast! Tes is a true force of nature and has incredibly been able to bring forth her vision of creating a long distance race for African-Americans where, for once, they are in the majority. The Race was not created to rectify the injustice of lack of representation and exclusion, but rather to celebrate black excellence through running!

The Race UC takes place in Atlanta and is the largest endurance race for African Americans and People of Colour. Its first year, 2018, saw over 1,400 people taking part - 89% of which were African-American/people of colour and it has rapidly become a destination for Black and minority runners all across the US.

The Race Pivot Edition 2020, takes place on 3rd October 2020 and due to Covid-19 is a virtual and digital experience this year. 

We speak to Tes about how she started this passionate endeavour, how she supports local black communities through The Race, how she has been able to make a career out of being a Race Director, and what her hopes and dreams are for the future. We wanna be like Tes!

One thing is for sure - God willing, and provided Covid-19 is a distant memory, The Start Line Girls, together with the Emancipated Run Crew will be making our pilgrimage to Atlanta for The Race UC 2021! We cannot wait!!  Until then, head to theraceuc.com to register for The Race Pivot Edition 2020 - but be quick - spaces are going fast!

Special shout out to India and Tommy from The Running Duo Podcast for inviting The Start Line alongside some other brilliant podcasts -  The Last Tenth, the RaceMob Podcast and Behind The Wheel Podcast - to participate in the Speaker Series going out during The Race Pivot Virtual Expo (and of course to Tes for making sure we were included on the panel.

We'd love to hear from you, so please follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook by searching for @thestartlinepod and subscribe to the show on your favourite podcast provider or at http://www.thestartlinepod.com! And don’t forget to rate and review us!

Theme music: Street Festival by Franco Eneiro. Used under licence.

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