The South Asian running experience
Seeing more runners who look like me is a beautiful thing
The third of my conversations at Runlimited in London last month was about the burgeoning South Asian running community.
It feels unfathomable to have had an event like this for South Asian runners back when I was running in London, over a decade ago, so it was a real pleasure to be was joined by Harkiran Kalsi (Women Make Moves), Amritpal Ghatora (Tracksmith), and Mara Hafezi (South Asian Heritage Month) and a beautiful audience.
I’ve purposefully been profiling South Asian runners since the very start of Running Sucks. It’s an important, personal topic for me to highlight, and it’s been incredible seeing more and more South Asian-focused run collectives springing up.
The USA has (at least) four in Masala Milers (NYC), Chai and Miles (SF), NJ Maniacs, and Chaitown Runners (Chicago), but the UK has so many now. There’s Chai Mile Run Club in Leicester, and in London there’s Sikhs in the City, of course, but also sheRUNS, South Asian Run Club, and Asian Women Run. It’s far from a national network like Black Men Run, but it’s a veritable feast nonetheless.
“South Asian cultures in general tend to be very group oriented, so I think the clubs are a really good place for that.”
Mara Hafezi, South Asian Heritage Month
These new crews are intimate and intentional. It might have become natural to believe that every running community needs to have triple-figures of attendees every time to be a valid concern, but while they’re not the crews that typically get financial support from brands, it’s where some of the most valuable work is being done. Do not discount the importance of knowing everyone’s name, thus creating a comfortable atmosphere. Understanding the value of bringing people together in showing others like you that a more active life is possible is essential. It’s where the unlikeliest new runners are made.
Like so many third culture kids, I didn’t grow up with positive role models in the home in terms of exercise. I learned to run at school, picked it up again as an adult trying to stay healthy in London, and fully fell in love with running at run clubs when I moved to LA.
“When [my parents] came over to the UK, their interests were not sports. Their interests were their family and to integrate into the culture and society. I respect the fact that we have to be the pioneers.”
Amritpal Ghatora, Tracksmith
My kids will have a different experience. They’ve grown up knowing the signs that I’m going for a run. They expect to go for runs themselves, and I’m certain that they will, and that I’ll be there to answer their questions when they do.
But when they do, they’ll hopefully not feel the white nationalist graffiti that I used to see scrawled on the concrete fences on the way to the school playing fields in their bones in the same way that I did. The hope is that they’re growing up with less cultural friction between home and outside life, and while they’re fully versed in the Bangladeshi half of their heritage, they will feel being subtly but publicly othered less keenly. They’ll be able to refocus slightly faster on how many miles they’ve got planned.
One of the reasons I talk about these three panels being interconnected is because of the commonality. Just as women are tired of the catcalls, the route planning, and not running at night, I have extra things to think about. Like whether it’s a good idea to take my kids to a Central London museum during the UK’s second consecutive summer of violent right-wing demonstrations that are directed primarily towards South Asians. Can I leave the house safely? Is that graffiti meant for me?
That’s the intersectional framework that I write within. It’s why the South Asian run groups that have formed recently are such important support networks. It’s why all the work that’s done to elevate South Asian runners is so welcomed and necessary.
Having someone like Amritpal Ghatora as the UK lead for a brand like Tracksmith and bringing in Muslim women from ASRA Club as community pacers is a glorious move of showing up with real advocacy. He tells me that he simply “wanted the group to represent what [he thinks] London is.”
“I do look a certain way that I can fit into white-coded spaces, but if you’re full hijabi, for instance, it’s not as easy to fit in or feel like you fit in. I have to keep that in the forefront of my mind.”
Harkiran Kalsi, Women Make Moves London
There are cultural differences that you’re either sensitive to or you aren’t. Even the South Asian experience isn’t a monolithic one where everyone fully understands everyone else’s needs, so asking and listening is important. That’s the level of thoughtfulness that shows how this is more of a celebration of how far we’ve come (and will go), rather than a pity-fest.
There is emerging epigenetic research into the effects of how famine during colonial times changed the genetic makeup of the South Asian population so that we now have genetically higher levels of cholesterol in our system, which leads to a higher risk of strokes and heart attacks.
We’ve all spoken about a poor family history with heart disease, even if we haven’t been directly affected, but there’s a way forward. We have more nutritional information and education at our fingertips than ever before.
As Amritpal says: “Daal and roti is a perfectly good carb-load. Lean into running and get passionate and you’ll learn more and more.”
Going back to that first evening, when Tilly asked me how I intended to use this platform. It’s to show you a different perspective in under 10 minutes.
I really believe that the most progress is made when everyone truly understands the perspective of the others around them, so let’s stay curious and keep moving forward.
Thanks for reading
Raz xx
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Good stuff, Cuz. x
Much love Raz