Black Girls Run builds community for Black women, one step at a time
University of Maryland sophomore Madison Stith grew up playing basketball and running cross country in school and athletic spaces throughout Baltimore City, where she was always surrounded by people who looked like her.
Joining an athletic club at this university felt different.
“When I came here and I joined club basketball, I was like, what the heck? Nobody looks like me,” Stith said.
So she founded the running club Black Girls Run. The club held its inaugural run on Sept. 24, bringing Black women together to build community through athletics.
Starting college meant navigating a new environment, and finding fewer people who looked like her in an activity she loved added another layer to that transition.
Stith knew of Black student organizations on campus, but she said she was unaware of an athletic club that offered the community she was seeking.
“I really just want to create a space for Black women to feel comfortable,” Stith said. “Especially when you first get here, it’s a little uncomfortable.”
She began developing the club last semester and spent the summer planning routes and organizing a shared calendar. One logo and Instagram account later, the idea became something she could share.
Now, Stith leads the organization alongside treasurer Kayla Stanton, a junior at the university. At their first run, participants covered about six-tenths of a mile, including a hill that made the short route more challenging than some expected, Stith said.
To make the club more inclusive, Stanton led a walking group.
“Not everybody wants to run, and that’s okay,” Stith said.
That flexibility reflects what Stith wants the club to offer: a place where meeting other Black women matters as much as getting through the route.
The club meets Thursdays at 6 p.m. at Hornbake Plaza, and Stith said she plans to keep routes no more than two miles this semester. She explains each route before the group starts so participants know where they are going, even if they choose to slow down.
Tyler Hilliard, a sophomore at the university, started jogging over the summer. Joining the club gave her a way to continue alongside other Black women. During the first run, she said participants encouraged one another.
“We all motivated each other to keep going, and we did it without stopping, which was really good,” Hilliard said.
Sophomore Allison Joseph, also a member, experienced that encouragement when she struggled to maintain her pace halfway through the run.
“Whenever the other members ahead of me caught me lacking, they cheered me on and blasted the music even louder,” Joseph said.
Students who are not Black women are also welcome to come and support, Stith said, while the club’s focus remains bringing Black women together.
Stith said she plans to expand beyond weekly runs to include panel discussions, yoga days and themed runs. She also wants to add more indoor activities to accommodate weather changes.
For Stith, the club’s future stretches beyond this semester’s calendar. She hopes Black women arriving at Maryland after she graduates will find a community already waiting for them.
“I want this to be here for us, for years,” Stith said.