The video of local police officers forming a bicycle blockade in front of a group of Black supporters during this year’s Boston Marathon seemed to highlight once again some unpleasant truths about running in America.
It is often a segregated sport in which Black runners (and their supporters) can be treated differently from white runners. Runners of color are often a tiny presence at the biggest races, especially once the race moves beyond the elite competitors born in Africa.
Erika Kemp, 28, who had the best marathon debut by an American woman in Boston last month, has had a close-up view of this dynamic since her teenage years, when she was a very fast young girl growing up in South Jersey.