anti-discrimination
- We will not tolerate discrimination at our races or in our community. We will not condone verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual harassment, abuse, or discrimination of any person for any reason. We expect everyone to treat each other with respect, which includes respecting their privacy, using their pronouns, being kind, patient and compassionate, and not making assumptions. If anyone has a problem with anyone else(another runner, a volunteer, crew member, staff member, etc.) for any reason please do not take that up with that person instead please inform the race directors, either in person at the race or by email at [email protected] [email protected]
- We acknowledge that our races take place on the ancestral lands of many Indigenous tribes and we will donate 1% of gross sales to Wings of America and or other Indigenous-led organizations each year. In addition to donations we will also help to shed light on issues affecting Indigenous people by amplifying their voices through our communication channels and we gladly offer a 50% discount on our race entry fees to all indigenous runners. For more information check out our Land Acknowledgement page that illustrates each of our race locations and the associated tribes, with information about their histories, cultures, and suggestions on ways to connect with and support them.
- Direct outreach to underrepresented communities. It's not enough to sit back and wait for diversity to just happen in our sport. We must meet folks where they are, let them know about the opportunities, listen to them and work to remove any barriers to participation. We look towards organizations like these, Black Girls Run, Black Men Run, Girls on the Run, Wings of America, Front Runners and United in Stride to learn how to help make our sport more inclusive.
- Offer various gender categories. By only offering two gender categories when runners register for our races and by only offering results and awards for those two genders we unintentionally have discriminated against runners who are not represented by that binary system. Going forward we will work to address this important issue in all that we do from the registration process, awards and more. For more information about non-binary gender and gender identities, here's an example of one site Gender Spectrum.
- We affirm transgender women as women and transgender men as men. All runners are welcome compete in the category that best fits their gender identity. Trans runners will not be discriminated against at our races. Trans athletes are facing mounting discrimination from many fronts including state legislatures, here's a recent article. And here's a site with lots of good information, Transathlete.com
- Financial assistance to anyone who needs it. We don't want anyone to be turned away due to a lack of funds. Please email us at [email protected] and we can work something out. If you'd like to contribute to our financial assistance program Please email us at [email protected]
- Financially support organizations working on discrimination issues. For years we've given our runners the option to add a donation for trails when registering. We'll expand this program of giving to also give our runners the opportunity to donate to an organization working directly to dismantle discrimination. Want to suggest a non-profit to feature? Please email us at [email protected]
We are eager to hear from you if you've got suggestions on other ways we can be more anti-discriminatory or other ideas to increase diversity, equity and inclusion. Please email us at [email protected]