A small step for inclusivity, a giant leap for trail running
Broken Arrow co-race director Ethan Veneklasen has worked to fix complex political structures both at home and abroad. He wants to do the same for trail.
Trail running is the fastest-growing section of the running world, so it demands attention, if not scrutiny. Diversity on the trails is a topic that I’ve written about a number of times. There’s an insane (hopefully out-of-date) stat that 75% of ultrarunners are white men. We want it to be different, right? We want it to be better than that.
There are far too many women and people of color speaking up about wanting to be included in the sport to ignore. Definitely too many to argue against, anyway – something I’ve sadly seen first-hand. I have long thought that positive action is required, and the good news is that it’s here.
So what do we do when someone is actually doing something to improve equity in diversity on the trails? We support them. When SheRACES pushes for improving race conditions for women, we celebrate their successes. When Ultra Black Running makes a freely accessible suburban trail program in London, we highlight their offerings. When Arc’teryx provides real funding to get 100 athletes from 20 Californian run clubs to the Broken Arrow Skyrace, we start to dream of a bright future where everybody is represented on the trails.
“With Arc’teryx’s generous support, nearly 100 athletes have received complimentary entries, early registration access, products/equipment, and/or travel stipends, as well as the opportunity to participate alongside some of the world’s top trail runners at one of North America’s largest and most competitive trail and ultrarunning events.”
“Recognizing that there is a compelling cultural need to drive meaningful inclusivity measures in a sport traditionally dominated by white runners, we invited five BIPOC running clubs to attend the 2024 Broken Arrow Skyrace. With Arc’teryx’s generous support, we are excited to expand the initiative significantly in 2025, with approximately 20 run clubs from traditionally under-represented and disenfranchised communities from across the state of California.”
A very cool statement from Brendan Madigan, co-race director of Broken Arrow Skyrace.
This month, the Running Industry Diversity Coalition is separately launching a new six-month-long, fully-supported training program helping 14 hand-picked BIPOC runners from around the USA get onto the trails. RIDC is providing coaching, gear, workshops, and a support system. It’s another practical, purposeful solution to a well-identified problem.
In terms of positioning that problem, we can draw a parallel between the white maleness of trail running and how 62% of American architects are white men. (Yeah, it’s not just trail running that has this issue.) The good news is that 9% of new architects are Asian women. That new intake – as small a portion of the overall number of architects as it may be – changes that big picture every single year, moving slowly but definitely towards a more equitable future. As more diverse faces can be seen in the architecture world, different decisions are being made, and more from younger generations will be inspired to follow that path.
When we use that buzzword jargon of moving the needle, that’s what we’re talking about, and that’s what Broken Arrow and Arc’teryx are putting into action here: small, but very visible changes at one of the world’s leading trail events that will hopefully have a huge impact on the future of trail, and it comes from a structure that’s been put into place.
An inclusion advisory council was formed a couple of years ago when Madigan and his Broken Arrow co-race director, Ethan Veneklasen heard the conversations, saw the stats, and realized that they both wanted to do more, and were in a position to do so, but maybe didn’t know exactly what to do.
Veneklasen explains: “A big part of it comes down to what I value – making a difference in the world, and I think it’s the same thing with Brendan too.”
“We mean what we say, and when we say something, we’re going to do it. The advisory council that helped us conceive of the inclusivity initiative was us putting our money where our mouth was. When it comes to historically underrepresented communities, I may have the best intentions but I don’t know what folks need.”
Ethan talks about hearing minorities’ safety concerns at events, and really digging into and asking questions about what that really meant. Emotionally or physically, for instance. He talks about testing his own assumptions with a goal of building a better world.
This is the America that we dream about, where a business is built in a person’s image. That’s a double-edged sword when the business owner’s values are not good, but in instances like this, where they can push to change their corner of the world in a positive direction, it’s truly worth paying attention to. But what led to a self-identified white middle-aged man working so hard for others?
“We wanted to prove that you could do a world-class, highly-competitive, uber-branded spectacular event, and still create an environment that was reflective of the core values and traditions that originally attracted us to the sport.” Ethan explains, matter-of-factly.
“That means that either Brendan or I are at the finish line to welcome every single runner. We don’t care if you finish first or last, you’re a rockstar. That’s not marketing. That came from the fact that when I ran Western States, Scott Jurek won the race in 15:40 or something. I finished in 26 hours, and the dude’s still sitting there in his sleeping bag cheering in every single runner. That meant something to me.”
Ethan ran Western States back in 2002, an incredible “11 months to the day after [he] started running.” Take that with a pinch of storytelling salt, but that was a pivotal year for him. After a life that took him from the West Coast to Europe, to the East Coast, and back home again, via nonprofits and the public sector – both domestic and international – as well as a stint in politics, working to get pro-choice women elected to Congress, he returned to California and got fitter than ever. Including the 50-miler he ran just to qualify for that first Western States — one that race director Ann Trason tried to discourage him from — Ethan has run 75 ultramarathons.
It should be clear now that this is all the result of the progressive, inclusive mindset that has coursed through Ethan’s whole career. That’s the image that Broken Arrow is built in. He’s worked to fix complex political structures both at home and abroad, and now he is working to do the same for trail.
In terms of the “world-class” and the “highly-competitive” part of what Ethan and Brendan want to uphold, runners from at least 30 countries are headed to Palisades Tahoe for the event this weekend, including everyone from mountain running GOAT, Killian Jornet to recreational runners. With distances from 46km down to a kid’s race, all the way through the stunning scenery of the Jewel of the Sierra Nevada, there really is something for everyone.
The fact that the event sells out each year immediately after going on sale, means that any thought that this initiative is a craven play for more money from more avenues can be immediately put to bed.
“Whether it’s talking about women’s education in the Majority World, or about inclusion in the trail running community, first off, you have to care about it. And you are more likely to care about it if you know people who it affects. It requires empathy.”
Ethan talks about a group with which he’d run 20 miles on a Tuesday and 30 miles on a Thursday after work. He admits that “it’s not normal behavior,” but goes on to talk about the unique relationships that are built while running for five hours with somebody. It’s the kind of place you begin to understand someone else’s perspective.
“You are talking about everything: your childhood, your relationships, your life experiences, the things that make you happy, sad, frustrated. You can’t run with someone each week for five hours and not get into that real stuff.”
I also spoke to Armando Torres of Nth Degree Athletic Club. The San Francisco run club has three members in the initiative heading up to Tahoe for Broken Arrow, but for him and his crew, inclusivity is about far more than money.
“There are certain communities where it is financial, but given that we live in San Francisco, there are a lot of people [in Nth Degree] with good jobs. I think, from our community’s perspective, it really is the marketing aspect. I don’t see us when I look at trail running. It’s not attractive or inviting to someone of color. None of it speaks to us, and the way I’ve always seen it is none of it is wanting to speak to us.”
“That’s why this initiative from Broken Arrow is exciting, because it feels genuine. As a Latino founder, I want to bring things to my community, but I am hesitant to do brand work with anybody. I want the people coming in to care about what they’re saying, and not just use us for street marketing. I don’t want to be used.”
As a running community leader who has rallied the Latino-led run clubs around the SF area into a genuine collective (“We have amazing leaders in Sacramento, Sonoma, Fremont, Oakland. We need to all be at the same table and support each other.”), Armando’s views are based in long-held reality.
“I want to find initiatives like this that are genuinely inviting people of all color through the door.”
And ‘genuine’ is the correct word. Ethan and Brendan didn’t spark this long-term initiative to inspire other race directors to do something similar, but the hope from everyone who can’t currently see enough of themselves in the trail ecosystem is that there’s much more of this kind of thing to come.
Links
Broken Arrow Skyrace takes place on June 19-22 in Palisades Tahoe
Further reading on trails
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Thank you so much to Arc’teryx for supporting this week’s edition of Running Sucks.
Thanks for reading
Raz x