Get to know us!

The Story

 

Tasha Thompson a keen runner since 1999 has always loved taking part in races. However, she always noticed that although there was great representation of elite black women athletes, there was a lack of regular black women runners in attendance at the races she attended.  

In March 2019 after yet another race with very few regular black women at the start line, there was also a memorable incident. An awkward moment occurred when Tasha and her running buddy Linda asked a race marshal a question about the route and the marshal response was to ask ‘are you running the race?’ despite the fact that they were both wearing running gear and race numbers. This prompted a post-race discussion in to why so few black women in the UK run, the success of Black Girls Run in the USA and what could be done to make a difference. In order to mark 20 years of running as well as Tasha’s love for the sport, it seemed only fitting to give back to the running community – From this Black Girls Do Run UK was born.

Black Girls Do Run UK (BGDRUK) is an England Athletics affiliated London based running club/family founded by Tasha Thompson in 2019. On board came four friends who also run, completing the team and making it the fantastic five. 

BGDRUK is both an online and in-person community platform to show that everyday regular black women do and can run. Our goal for the community is to motivate more UK based black women to run. The aim is to create a safe space that enhances the representation of regular black women to run for enjoyment, friendship, health reasons and be rewarded for their efforts by taking part in races. 

The Sport England report of 2020 ‘Sport for All’ emphasises that ‘ethnicity & culture matters in sport and physical activity’.  The report highlights statistics showing how people from black, Chinese and Asian backgrounds are less likely to exercise than other individuals who are white. We are here to squash the misconception that black women do not run by encouraging and inspiring more to run by increasing the visibility on social media of black women running.

 

About Black Girls Do Run UK

  • Tasha Thompson

    Founder and club chair

    Tasha has been a passionately running since 1999, she has completed lots of races of varying distances from 5km up to full marathon, her favourite distance is half marathon. As well as running she enjoys cycling, taking photos and creating annual bucket lists.

    Fun fact:

    Tasha collects badges

  • Linda Agyemang

    Club Secretary and Membership Secretary

    Linda has been a driven runner since 2016. Her proudest moment to date is completing a virtual full marathon. She would like to do more trail running and complete an ultra marathon.

    Fun fact:

    Linda is a sucker for 90’s R&B, let’s just say Jodeci had her feenin.

  • Sacha Lumley

    Club Treasurer

    Sacha has been an avid runner since her teens and mostly ran alone until discovering BGDRUK. Running the VLM 2021 has been one of her highlights in her running journey.

    Fun fact:

    The first concert Sacha attended was Beres Hammond in London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

  • Celeste Stevens

    DBS Verifier

    Celeste signed up for couch to 5k in 2011 and has been enthusiastically running ever since 2011. Her first race was a Race for Life 5km event in 2013 and she has since ran many races of varying distances up to half marathon.

    Fun fact:

    Celeste favourite place in the world is Barbados.

  • Ann-Marie Kennedy

    Welfare Officer

    Annie has been a committed runner since October 2019. She challenged herself by embarking on the Virtual London Marathon in October 2021 and more recently the Manchester Marathon in April 2022, despite stating she would NEVER run a marathon! Outside of running she enjoys travel, food and pushing herself outside her comfort zone.

    Fun fact:

    Annie’s favourite animal is a potbellied pig.