Everyone had a different idea about what they hoped to see during UTMB week. Seeing Rachel Entrekin or Courtney Dauwalter succeed was a common one. Wondering if Vincent Bouillard had recovered enough from his Western States efforts to challenge was another.
I was dot-watching a couple of friends who were running OCC, but for me, it was really quite singular:
I wanted to see Ben Dhiman win the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc.
After finishing second last year, and a strong year of racing behind him, UTMB was the focus. I felt like it was his time. Ben also felt like it was his time. He even ‘called his shot,’ AKA had the temerity to say out loud that his goal was to win the race.
An exciting hook for me was that the Cincinnati-native had Indian heritage. Could a brown guy win the most prestigious race on the trail calendar!? In one of the whitest sports in the world (an estimated 75% of trail runners are white men), it would be celebrated far and wide across by everyone calling for more diversity in trail and ultra, right?
Wrong. Because Ben Dhiman did win the UTMB 100-mile race, and all the headlines were (correctly) about the American who completed the (modified) course over an hour faster than anyone else ever has. It was an incredible race, that Ben Dhiman ran expertly.
I actually couldn’t find any evidence of his heritage beyond the color of his skin and simply knowing that Dhiman is a name from the Punjab, but it’s the kind of thing one pores over when you have little to no other representation in a sport that you love.
Understandably, his interview schedule was jam-packed after his UTMB victory, but I figured I’d try and get 10 minutes of his time to talk about the singular thing that nobody else was covering.
RR: I don’t think you’ve ever spoken about your Indian heritage before.
“Yeah. I’m not a big, ‘Look at me, I’m a person of color,’ kind of guy. And nobody ever asked me. I’m actually Ben Singh Dhiman. My dad’s people are from Punjab, and my mom is white.”
“I was raised very American, though. My dad, when he came, he really wanted to assimilate as much as he could. Obviously, we hung out with a lot of Indians from time to time, and went to Sikh temple every once in a while, but it’s hard for me to understand at what point am I this or that, so that’s why I don’t make a big deal about it.”
“In France, it’s very politically incorrect to ask people their origins. Nobody ever asks if they don’t know, and they know that’s a taboo thing to ask people, where I would feel completely fine. I would feel excited to explain to somebody a bit about where I’m coming from.”
RR: Do you ever think about being an example for future South Asian athletes?
“I hope that you’re not the only one that noticed that I’m not just another white boy out there, but I just do me, and I hope that that serves as itself as an example. My result came on the back of hard work and belief, and that’s a normal, universal thing. If it’s possible at all for people who are trying to find an outlet, or are trying to find something to do with their legs or with their heart, this is a good route.”
“I travelled in India for a little bit, and it was the first time in my life that I felt incognito. I had never felt that in my entire life. I didn’t know that that’s how it felt. When I was walking in Delhi, nobody cared out there.”
“I don’t actually know how to bridge that gap between me doing me and then me also trying to represent a group of people.”
RR: I felt so much pride and hope when I saw you cross that finish line. How does that make you feel?
“That makes me feel more of an emotional charge than other other people reacting like that – that other people might see themselves in me. I wish I had a big boombox to take over to India to make some noise about it because that would be cool. I just don’t have those connections, actually.”
The cultural differences between France, the UK, and the US in terms of approaching heritage and identity fascinate me. I think about the number of Americans who tell me they’re Irish, despite being several generations beyond being able to get a passport, versus Ben’s point of view versus French civic universalism, a political philosophy that encourages the view that citizenship transcends individual differences, uniting its people. La Haine is one of my favorite films.
If anyone had got it 100% right, we’d all be living in perfect harmony.
The rest of my UTMB content and coverage
Yesterday, I made some Instagram slides talking about influencers, consumerism, brand activations, and how sustainable this all is. The Instagram people I made it for seemed to like it. Maybe you will too.
Read my thoughts from Monday about South Asian representation in trail here:
Thanks for reading
Raz x
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This is fantastic. Well done, Raz.
The sports that look monocultural from the outside only widen when someone already at the front says out loud who else belongs — and a UTMB win is about as loud as it gets. The starting line moved because of a "mission statement" — it takes one honest profile at a time — So outstanding that you ran this.