Comunidad, representación y más: Una conversación con Cheryl Donald

Cheryl Donald (left) with author and NYRR Contributors Circle member Victoria Fortune.

In honor of Black History Month and Women's History Month, I sat down with friend and running buddy Cheryl Donald. Cheryl is a psychotherapist and life coach specializing in trauma, depression, and marriage and family therapy. While running her own private practice, Cheryl has also found the time to train and run all six Abbott World Marathon Majors.

Cheryl is a part of several NYC-based run clubs, and I had the pleasure of meeting her in 2019 through the Nike Project Moonshot training program. We’ve been sisters ever since. In this interview, Cheryl talks about her love for running, the change she’s seen in the NYC running community, the importance of representation, and more.

This is part 1 of our conversation; you can read part 2 here.

Cheryl’s Running Background

Victoria: Cheryl, it’s such a delight to share this time with you. Let’s jump right in. What fuels your desire to run?

Cheryl: You know, I think it's different things over different periods of my running journey. This year is the 10-year anniversary of my first half marathon, which was the Brooklyn Half in 2014. That was what officially started me on the journey.

I started running to get over some changes that were happening in my life at that time. And now it's really just a fabric of who I am, how I maintain my own physical and mental health.

Victoria: We were part of very few Black women running with Project Moonshot. Have you come across any challenges navigating the running community as a Black woman?

Cheryl: I think the greatest challenge is just not seeing people that look like you, and over the past 10 years, I can say that it has changed significantly for the better. We're starting to see more Black women runners in the community. We’re also starting to see some amplification of Black women runners and their accomplishments in the marathon distance and the half marathon distance, which is something that we haven't traditionally seen over the years.

It's been an increase, but still not where I would like to see it.

NYC Running Community

Victoria: You and I are both a part of the New York City running community. There's often this unspoken rule that one has to be loyal to one club. You've completely disrupted this belief. What's your approach to joining run clubs, and how have you managed to be a part of multiple run clubs across New York City?

Cheryl: I'm a naturally social person. I'm a military kid, so growing up I moved around a lot and was able to acclimate to different types of people from different communities.

I think most people associate me with the Brooklyn Track Club. I've been running with our group since 2017 and I would say that's my foundation. I have a special place in my heart for Brooklyn Track Club. I also helped create the 501(c)(3) for who we are now and serve as the board chair.

People gravitate toward different groups for different reasons. Some people are looking for groups that run closer to where they live, or that are culturally based. For me, I get a little bit of everything from the different groups that I predominantly run with. Depending on what I need, the pace that I need, the community that I need, I really just try to stay with the core groups.

Victoria: Why do you feel like representation matters, and why have you decided to create The Running Sisters Social Club as a safe space for women runners?

Cheryl: If you can't see it, you can't be it, right? In the New York City running community, and I would say probably across the country, we see each other here and there, and because we don't have a critical mass of Black women distance runners, we may see each other at different paces. You know, if I'm running a sub-four-hour marathon and someone else is running a sub-six-hour marathon, we may not have those natural opportunities to come together and see each other.

The Running Sisters really is a social club, not a running club, because everyone runs with who they run with for whatever purpose they're looking to get out of their running journey. But the thing that connects us is that we're all runners and we value that.

Victoria: I've attended a few of your Running Sisters events and it's great to connect with folks that I may not see or who are super speedy.

What would you like to see more brands or more running running groups do to support the New York City running community?

Cheryl: I think when it comes to the brands, we want the brands to remain authentic. Of course, it's a marketing opportunity for the brands, but also, is what are you marketing what we need? [Are you] really trying to fill gaps that are existing? Are you providing the things that we actually need, or are you using the community to promote your brand? They can be mutually beneficial if it's done right.

I think that is always in consultation with the community and really listening and being present and not pigeonholing folks where they can't spread their wings a bit. I think that's the primary message that I would like to send out.

Running can be pretty expensive when it comes to gear or to identifying meet-up places where we all come together and drop our bags and go out and do a run. Resources are needed for that. We want to keep running accessible to everyone. The brands can really help support, and those are resources that they may have.

Read part 2 of this interview here.

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