Running Sucks

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Running Sucks
Running Sucks
It takes a village

It takes a village

Meet the New York City run crew designed for the South Asian community. Meet the Masala Milers.

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Raziq Rauf
Jul 24, 2025
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It takes a village
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South Asians are one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the USA over the past 25 years. There are 5.1 million South Asians across the country – up from 2.2 million in 2000. An estimated 25% of whom are in New York City, with some districts of Queens boasting 20% of their population to be South Asian. So far, so what, right?

I live in Los Angeles, where less than 2.5% of the population identifies as South Asian, a far cry from being in Queens, or London, where 1 in 5 people look like me, rather than 1 in 40. Living here reminds me of running 20 years ago. I just don’t see people like me.

However, the growth in the South Asian population in the US over the past 25 years, coupled with the 50% increase in runners over the past decade, has simply meant that there are more people of every splinter of society running.

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In the USA, national organizations like Latinos Run and Black Men Run have both been in operation for …

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