Nashville resident Gabe Marrero had a lot of hesitations about trail running. The thought of going out into the forest created a lot of fear in his mind. He was worried about getting lost or being attacked by snakes and bears.
Most of all, the idea of being alone in the woods – especially as a person of color – was a scary proposition. Marrero had always considered trail running a “white people’s activity” or something that “black and brown people don’t do.”
then he joined in freedom to run Program created by the Running Industry Diversity Coalition (RIDC). The leaders of this nonprofit understand why people of color might fear walking alone. He created RIDC in the wake of the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, while jogging alone in a small town in Georgia.
with freedom to runRIDC selected over a dozen people to receive coaching, gear, and community support, with the hopes of creating a culture of trail running among people who thought it wasn’t for them.
Marrero was one of several Nashville residents in the 2025 group freedom to runIncluding Yolanda Lopez-Hougabook. Together, Marrero and Lopez-Hougabook discovered the joy of running on nature trails near Nashville. And they began inviting other people of color to join them. long ago, they had become sin meadowOne of the few BIPOC trail running groups in the Deep South. (The group’s name translates from Spanish as “Without Fear”.)
Between President Trump’s immigration actions and a Increase in racially motivated hate crimes According to runners interviewed for this story, it hasn’t been easy for people of color to feel safe in recent years. But now trail running groups like San Miedo are springing up across the country, giving more Americans a chance to get outside.
“ICE was coming in May of last year and taking people away from their families,” Marrero said. “We made a conscious decision to say, ‘We’re going to demonstrate.’ These things happening around us are terrible and are destroying our community, but we’re going to help people escape for an hour or two. And a lot of people have come forward in the group, who are providing assistance to the needy people. Accommodations, food, anything… trail running has been a catalyst for us to continue to show up for each other.”
diversity in running
These days, it seems like more people want to run than ever before. The size of the marathon continues to grow. Most major lotteries now hold lotteries, with participation rising to the thousands even in a single race.
Trail running is not far behind. According to the Outdoor Industry Association latest dataIn 2025, trail running had the largest growth (7.8%) of any tracked outdoor activity, reaching 17.2 million participants.
Looking at runners more broadly, there is a considerable amount of diversity. According to data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, approximately 34% of runners (16 million) are people of color. As the U.S. population changes, this percentage could potentially increase even higher. According to US Census projections, by 2045, people of color will be the majority of the country, with a 51% share of the population.
But trail running still lags far behind in diversity, and this is especially true in the upper echelons of the sport. A 2024 survey A survey of nearly 600 runners conducted by the American Trail Running Association found that 84% of them identified themselves as white. Obviously, there were not enough runners identifying as black to warrant even one percent.
RIDC also offers a database of BIPOC-led running groups across the US — and it’s growing weekly, RIDC Executive Director Kiara Smalls told GearJunkie. Many of these running groups bring dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people to run each week.
“At the end of the day, the barriers still exist for people of color: safety, time, cost, perception — all of these things are still there,” Smalls said. “But we can tell from the increase in representation that something is happening.”
A new generation of trail runners
Yolanda Lopez-Hougabook is a perfect example of why there is so little diversity in trail running. Before joining RIDC freedom to run In the program, Lopez-Hougabook and her husband were both avid runners — but mostly on concrete.
The idea of living in the woods doesn’t always feel safe for people of color, he said. But then he received coaching and guidance through remote meetings with RIDC trail-running experts, and he began taking his running habit to nature trails. They started at Nashville’s Percy Warner Deep Well Trailhead and soon realized what they were missing.
This became abundantly clear to Lopez-Hougabook when she showed her father photos of various mushrooms she found during her trail runs.
“He said, ‘I’ve never seen these in real life. I’ve only seen them on TV.’ And that was pretty much me,” she said. “I almost missed this opportunity. I had trekked here and there. But running through the forest is a different experience. You are connecting with something ancestral. You’re getting something the road could never give.”
That’s when Lopez-Hougabook and her husband decided to co-found Sin Miedo and help others like them follow the same path. When he started organizing group runs last year, it was “right in the middle of the immigration raids in Nashville,” he said, so “moving together in numbers” was what kept him safe.
Analysis of ICE video and public records shows a pattern of “systemic racial profiling” and “abusive conduct.” nashville banner Reported in February. That’s why Lopez-Hougabook and her husband soon realized they wanted to do more than just organize weekly runs.
So he took inspiration from RIDC and also focused on education. He created a 16-week training program and convinced several members of the group to join Wild Thangs Trail Race Series in Alabama. It was impressive to see so much interest from the community, he said. Sometimes, new members were champion runners in their native countries but did not know how to find those opportunities in the United States.
“When we went (to Wild Thangs) last year, we were the only people of color in the first race. Then there were a few more people in the others. By the fourth, we brought 16 people of color to the race. We even brought 27 people to a race in Chattanooga in December,” Lopez-Hougabook said. “Being a part of the progress of people of color in the running industry has been a beautiful reward for us.”
Partnership with ongoing industry
RIDC’s Freedom to Run program has produced many success stories – Sin Miedo is just one of them. The nonprofit’s programming has continued to grow over the years. Although the group initially focused on the safety of BIPOC runners, it later expanded to include a number of initiatives aimed at increasing diversity not only among runners but also within the industry.
Brand partnerships have helped fund many of its programs. This includes movement for allA 3-year program that offers free coaching both in person and online. On Running helped fund the initiative, which is now available in all 50 states, and received 1,350 applications in 2026.
there is also run blockA partnership with Brooks Running. The brand offered a $200,000 grant to help open Black-owned running stores. After receiving several applications, RIDC selected Carol Holland and Jessie Holland in Prince George’s County, MD. He opened his store, HarkaThis year.
“RIDC focuses on two pathways to increasing diversity,” Smalls said. “How can we help more people get into running? And how can we increase participation so more people can work in the industry?”
non-profit organization Research on diversity within the running industry Also an eye opener. while operating industry research Funded by New Balance, RIDC conducted a survey of 63 running organizations, including retailers, product manufacturers, and event organizers. Nearly 70% of these organizations had DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) goals. Yet 59% of them don’t track their progress, and only 14% publish their goals to the public, RIDC concluded.
Nearly half of the organizations surveyed have a senior executive leading DEI efforts. 77% of them identify as white.
“Every time we do research, we don’t just provide information for individuals,” Smalls said. “Retailers can do the same. Brands can do the same.”
a growing alliance
As for Sin Meadow, it continues to add new members. And the group’s message now resonates with more than just people of color.
Its anniversary celebration in May included several “allies” of Latinos and African Americans who attend the group’s weekly events. When one of those colleagues found out he was being deployed to Iran, he asked for a San Miedo T-shirt “to take that thought with him,” Lopez-Hougabook said.
“That phrase, ‘Sin Miedo,’ has been adopted by people in our community — even non-BIPOC ones,” he said. “It’s been a full year.”
