Doctors Darroch and Hillsburg analyzed the covers of three North American publications (Runner’s World, Women’s Running, and Canadian Running) over an eleven-year period (2009–2019) and found that yes, the data supported their perception. Of the 284 covers, white people were featured 80 percent of the time. On its own, Runner’s World featured white people 85 percent of the time, a statistic representative of the publication since it began in the late 1960s. To me, the findings were validating. I’d been running for seven years and had rarely seen Black people featured in the media.
