The Level Up
The running world is so monolithic in terms of body size, race, and gender.
The best work we can do is internal.
Kelly Robertsnever thought shed be a runner.
In fact, she only hit the pavement out of desperation.
But after she graduated in 2012, she no longer had that respite.
Thenow33-year-old says she needed a way to deal with her grief andbody image issues.
So she took off running… and barely made it down the street.
Even so, Roberts remembers feeling better when she got home.
I decided to start running because it gave me something to be proud of.
I was like, If I can run a marathon, theres nothing I cant do.
From there, her career in running took off.
Roberts ran her first half-marathon in January 2013, then finished her firstfull marathonthat June.
Despite these accolades, Roberts wasnt into the sport for the races.
Running has allowed me to meet so many people that I wouldnt have otherwise, she says.
[BALG] is so much more than running.
I wanted to provide a place where people can genuinely make friends, says Roberts.
She also encourages, counsels, and entertains countless more online, including her 66,000 Instagram followers.
When you first started running, what did the sport look like?
So many people get into running as a way to lose weight or punish themselves.
And the running industry is always centered around fast, white, skinny men.
Its been super non-inclusive to people of color and bigger bodies.
I hated all the advice and guidance in the media about running because it was so archaic.
But the running world is still not a great place.
Tell me about this party.
Whats your approach to coaching?
What is your advice to people who are trying to separate running from weight loss and diet culture?
Instead, body image resilience means understanding that youre going to have challenging days with your body its inevitable.
But its about putting curiosity goggles on and asking yourself What is happening to make me feel this way?
Not I am this way.
Instead of thinking of yourself as the problem, you realize everything else is the problem.
1 piece of advice as a running coach?
Know that you genuinely can do anything, but ask yourself What do Iwantto do?
Is it to prove to someone that you’re able to do it?
Thats a good motivating factor, but thats not going to carry you through.
It needs to be about you.
What can the running community at large do to make the sport more approachable and inclusive?
The running world is so monolithic in terms of body size, race, and gender.
The best work we can do is internal.
We need to deal with our ownracial biasandfatphobia.
What do you hope the running world looks like in the future?
Running doesnt have to be about chasing huge goals.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
This article was originally published onNovember 8, 2022
