On February 3 in Orlando, Florida, 160 women will toe the line at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. It’s the most exclusive field of women’s American marathoning talent ever assembled, down from more than 450 participants in 2020, largely because of the stiffer qualifying mark of 2:37:00 for the full marathon and 1:12:00 for the half.

The top three finishers (who have surpassed the 2:29:30 time since the start of the qualifying period) will earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team and run the marathon in the Paris Olympics on August 11.

Despite a marathon qualifying time that’s eight minutes faster than the previous Olympic qualifying cycle, this year’s women’s field contains more runners of color than ever. Roughly 13 percent of the field—approximately 20 athletes—are women of color, according to statistics from USA Track and Field.

We spoke with eight of these women to find out what racing a marathon with the chance to represent their country, and also their communities, means to them.

‘Even More Exciting’

Sara Passani, 30, works for a private equity firm in Los Angeles. A former NCAA DIII All-American turned elite marathoner, Passani qualified for the Trials in 2020, and smashed the 2024 qualifying standard with a seven-minute PR of 2:34:33 at the California International Marathon in 2022.

“I think it’s promising that a greater proportion of women of color have qualified and are participating in the Trials, especially in light of the more difficult qualifying standards,” Passani says. “This makes the race even more exciting, in my opinion.”

That sentiment is reflected by Erika Kemp, 29, who became the fastest U.S.-born Black female marathoner with her debut effort of 2:33:57 at the 2023 Boston Marathon. She’s been inspired to see more women of color racing on the roads since she entered the pro ranks following her All-American collegiate career at North Carolina State.

In her progression leading up to the marathon the Brooks-sponsored pro who lives in Providence, Rhode Island, logged numerous top-five finishes at shorter distances, including a U.S. 15K title in 2019 and a U.S. 20K championship win in 2021.

“It’s super encouraging [to see more women of color racing at this level], and you’d like to think that with every cycle, that number is going to climb higher and higher until it reflects more of the actual population,” Kemp says. “I loved reading Ariane Hendrix’s story about wanting to go after that No. 1 spot [on the List]. It’s easy as a full-time pro to not think about that because I obviously have other professional goals, but it almost brings me back down to earth to see that there’s this big thing going on that’s inspiring other people to get after some serious goals.”

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Celebrating Culture and Identity

First-time Olympic Trials competitor Maggie Montoya, 28, is a Salomon-sponsored pro with a 2:28:07 personal best, who is also finishing up a master’s in public health. Now living in Boulder, Colorado, Montoya says she’s never struggled with feeling that she’s “the only” in her running career. However, having grown up in Rogers, Arkansas, which has a large Hispanic and Latine population, it eventually became clear to her that existing representation within the sport hasn’t received the attention it deserves.

“While I have not grown up super in-tune with my Hispanic heritage, it is something I have felt aware of on starting lines before,” Montoya says. “It wasn’t that I felt alone, but I realized there were not as many people who looked like me.”

Montoya, who competed for Baylor University in Waco, Texas, as an undergrad, says she didn’t initially hone in on these discrepancies until her collegiate and professional career. She pointed to not growing up surrounded by the culture.

“To a lot of people, I was ethnically ambiguous until they learned my last name was Montoya, and there have been several occasions during races, such as the Houston, Boston, and Chicago Marathons, that I get a huge amount of cheers when people see the name ‘Montoya,’” she says. “It comes with feelings of being an imposter because I don’t speak the language and I haven’t been back to where I lived in Mexico in a long time. But I also am filled with the feeling that, from what they can tell, I represent the name well and they are thrilled to yell it.”

Joanna Reyes, 31, echoed that sentiment. A full-time pharmacist from San Jose, California, Reyes qualified for her second Olympic Trials by running a PR of 2:36:26 at Grandma’s Marathon in 2022.

“When I run races, I sometimes hear an excited ‘Go Reyes!’ from a Hispanic spectator, and it makes me feel proud, as I am usually the only Hispanic runner in the elite field,” Reyes says. “When I was training for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, my cousin would tell me ‘I am so proud of you; you are representing your family and your Latina heritage. There is nothing you can’t do.’ Having [my family’s] support has been a huge part of my success throughout my running career, and I do hope to see more Latinas and women of color pursuing the marathon.”

Tammy Hsieh, 33, works in Boston as a bioanalytical chemist who has two master’s degrees in neuroscience. She qualified for the Olympic Trials on the last day possible, at the 2023 California International Marathon on December 3, running exactly 2:37:00—with zero seconds to spare. While she was interested in the sport from a young age, she only picked up running in 2015.

Hsieh’s family encouraged her to prioritize academics over athletic activities when she was growing up (a common phenomenon among Asian American families, she says), despite her father running track in high school. Hsieh also noted that she hasn’t seen many fellow Asian American runners competing at her level or among running groups in Boston.

“I think a big part of Asian American kids not feeling confident enough to pursue running and other sports is due to [a lack of encouragement] from their parents. I think my life, perspective, and trajectory in running might have been completely different if I had had that,” Hsieh says. “Once I finally found running for myself, I never looked back—finding my community and building connections has made it so meaningful for me.”

RELATED: For Betsy Saina, the Olympic Trials Presents a Chance to Represent Her Son

Inspiring More Women of Color to Pursue the Sport

Many athletes of color point to the power that community in local running groups has played in their journey through the sport. The crux is finding the right ones.

“I think finding the right run clubs has been super helpful for a lot of people because it’s a super easy way to get into the sport and feel comfortable training and going after goals with a structured environment,” Kemp says. “It has to be the right one because a lot of run clubs can give off a standoffish feeling. You might have to do a bit of legwork to find the right club in your community, but when you do, I feel like that’s game-changing.”

Kemp noted that visible representation is key in boosting diversity among athletes at any level of the sport and inspiring them to participate in events like road races. It’s something that the Running Industry Diversity Coalition has worked on since its formation in 2020.

“From my personal experience, whenever I’m on a starting line, or I finish a race, I get [messages on social media], or I meet people who say ‘I want to do this next year— it was so fun to watch you run and I want to try it,’” she says. “I got so many more of these messages after racing the Boston Marathon. [That shows that] we need to be at the races and on the start lines for people to even have that experience.”

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Nell Rojas, 36, finished 10th at the 2023 Boston Marathon in personal-best 2:24:51—her third consecutive strong performance in Boston—to qualify for her second U.S. Olympic Trials. She works as a coach in Boulder, Colorado, where she’s coached by her father and distance running legend Ric Rojas.

With a ninth-place finish at the 2020 Olympic Trials and the 2021 U.S. 10-mile championship win under her belt, Rojas, who identifies as a Latina, finds motivation in knowing she’s proving what’s possible to others who may not feel fully represented in the sport.

“Being visible to other [runners who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color] at large races is important to me because I believe it can help people overcome a feeling of not belonging in the running community,” says Rojas, a Nike-sponsored runner since 2022.

“Over the years, I have seen a wider selection of running groups in my area that are geared toward minority women, and I’ve seen more of them [highlighted in media such as] magazines or athletic apparel advertisements,” Reyes adds. “When a young Latina woman sees this, she thinks ‘If they can, I can, too.’”

“It would be to the advantage of pushing the sport forward to showcase a variety of different women from different backgrounds so [women and girls] can see folks who look like them and who they can relate to,” Passani, who is of Iranian and Middle Eastern descent, adds.

The Road Ahead

For many runners of color, something else that was memorable about the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials was the scarcity of media attention received by winner Aliphine Tuliamuk, and third-place finisher Sally Kipyego, both Kenyan-born U.S. runners, compared to runner-up Molly Seidel.

All three had been top-tier collegiate runners at the NCAA Division I level between 2007 and 2015, and Kipyego had even been a silver medalist in the 10,000 meters at the 2012 Olympics. However, Seidel, who would go on to win the bronze medal at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, received significantly more coverage in the 17 months between the Trials and the Games.

Tuliamuk shared on Twitter that she had to turn off the broadcast replay when she sat down to watch it after the Trials, as it was upsetting to see the broadcast team struggle to come up with commentary about her as she led the race.

Many runners also haven’t forgotten when, just six days before the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed after being pursued by three white men (who were eventually found guilty of hate crimes motivated by racism) while out on a run in Satilla Springs, Georgia. The news cycle was slow to give the story attention, but it eventually sparked long overdue conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the running industry and community, as well as about representation in running media with regard to whose stories were being highlighted.

“There is much work to be done in terms of inclusion and representation in road running and endurance sports in our country,” adds Kidan Kidane, 29, an Ethiopian-born athlete who is also currently pursuing a master’s degree at Yale University’s School of Nursing in New Haven, Connecticut. “I see running as a gift, and hope sharing my story can inspire women of color, young or old, to fight for what they know to be true and know they are worthy of acknowledgment and praise for their efforts to endure and thrive in the sport, in workplaces, and in life, despite the challenges and barriers that exist.”

Kemp noted that, as a runner competing at the highest level, it can be a blessing in disguise to line up on a starting line without additional external pressure. Ultimately, though, it’s not good for the sport to overlook these underrepresented stories because that also impacts the athletes’ livelihoods and their ability to progress in their careers.

“There is so much power in getting your story told, even literally [from a financial standpoint], in terms of getting sponsorships,” Kemp says. “You just see some stark differences in how many followers [certain athletes] have and the reception they have [relative to each other], even if they have identical PRs. You want to see everyone get those opportunities, but not everyone does, and sometimes it feels like certain things are more influential than they should be. From a professional standpoint, thinking about [what it means] for giving [minority athletes] a chance to stay in sport, it’s pretty upsetting.”

“Having raced [elite Mexican athletes] such as Andrea Ramírez Limón and Laura Galvan on several occasions, their presence and how fast they run is an example that Latina women are [also here] and should be further included in the discussion of high-performance athletes,” Montoya adds. “Flying under the radar is fun, but it is significant to be acknowledged as a contender, too.”

Peyton Thomas, 28, ran a marathon PR of 2:35:50 at CIM in 2023 to qualify for her second marathon Olympic trials. A researcher studying fish ecology and climate change at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Thomas supercharges by focusing on the positives, specifically joy.

“Specifically for me as a Black woman, centering my narrative on joy has really helped me, especially when it comes to running and what it gives me, which can encourage others to look for sources of joy in their lives and bring more people into the running community,” she says. “Media [coverage] of white communities and runners is generally centered on their accomplishments and prominence, [whereas for] BIPOC and queer runners, it’s pretty minimal or is often about the struggle. We have accomplishments, too, and deserve media space for visibility and showing people we also matter to the larger society.”