Tes Sobomehin Marshall is the Founder of Running Nerds and Run Social Atlanta and the Race Director for The Race. She is an 8 time marathoner on her way to completing all of the World Marathon Majors. She also has a love for craft beer and dreams of opening a brewery of her own one day.
When Tes started running back in 2010, she found that she was one of very few Black women at races. She wanted to do something about that and right away found out about Black Girls Run. She became a leader and volunteer with Black Girls Run Atlanta (she had a big hand in helping grow that chapter – their FB group has upwards of 20,000 members!). Since then she has started her own race production company and founded a race called “The Race.” The Race which is a half marathon weekend event that supports black-owned businesses, charities, and neighborhoods hosted in Atlanta, GA. The Race just happened this past weekend with huge success as a virtual event.
In this episode we talk about representation of the Black community in the running space and how to make sure leaders in the space make sure that races and events make that a priority. Her big dreams for her race – The Race are inspiring and it’s going to be so cool to continue to see that event flourish and grow.
What we talked about:
4:45- Introduction to Tes Sobomehin Marshall
6:10- Her annual race that happened this past weekend- The Race
10:00- How she got into running and joining Black Girls Run
14:00- How she started her company Runningnerds
16:00- Why there weren’t many Black runners at her first race and how that has shifted through representation
19:25- How she met her husband through Black Girls Run
22:20- What race directors can do to make sure everyone feels welcome and included at their races
25:05- What The Race is
30:00- How she initially started The Race
35:40- The Major Marathons that she has done
39:20- Reflecting on the start of running career and how far she has come
44:45- What she has learned from running marathons
47:35- Her feelings when she had to transition to the race being virtual this year and how she worked to have a successful virtual event
56:05- Her dream for the Black running community in the coming years
58:50- How she thinks we can bring representation to the race director industry
1:00:50- Thriving in the role of being “the only” or “the first” in different communities, industries, etc.
1:02:35- The meet and greet that she created at the Olympic Trials with Aliphine Tuliamuk
1:04:10- Her plans in the brewery industry, the internship she’s doing right now, and her plans for opening a brewery in the future
1:07:35- The Black is Beautiful beer
1:13:40- End of podcast questions
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