MEET SABRINA PACE-HUMPHREYS, CO-FOUNDER OF BLACK TRAIL RUNNERS.

In July this year, Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, together with seven other black and bi-racial founders, set up Black Trail Runners. Their mission is to increase the inclusion, participation and representation of black people in trail running.

We talked to the inspiring UK-based INOV8 ambassador about all this and much, much more. Read Sabrina’s answers below.

I am a 42-year-old mother of 4 children (24, 22, 14 and 11) and a grandmother to two little boys (14 months and 6 months). For 16 years I ran my own public relations agency, a small business but one which I loved building from scratch.

Four years ago, I was asked to form a women’s only running group in my county due to the lack of opportunity for mothers to take up running as a form of fitness and mental health management. Being a keen club runner at that time, I responded to this request and I would say it totally changed my career path.

I absolutely love seeing the power of fitness, exercise and finding a sport you love to change lives. And through training as a UKA run coach and L3 personal trainer, I see this day-in, day-out.

Over the past few years, I have been developing my client base of personal and virtual clients. Working with people to help them become the best versions of themselves they possibly can be – and personal fitness acting as a conduit to this – is what I was put on this earth to do. It’s transformed my life.

I started running after the birth of my fourth child. As happens to many women, I gained a lot of weight (over 5 stone) during pregnancy and, being an older mother, knew that losing the weight would be a lot harder than it had been when I was a teenage mother. I’ll be honest with you. I absolutely hated the idea of running. I used to avoid the treadmill like the plague at the gym and would laugh at runners who I saw on the road in singlets and short shorts.

But the problem was that learning to run, at that time in my life, seemed to be the only thing that I could do solo and hide myself on the canal towpath (well, away from cars or people who may laugh at me).

So one day I decided I was going to go for a run. I wore an old pair of tracksuit bottoms, baseball boots and a baggy t-shirt. It was the hardest thing I ever did. I ran and walked it. 1 minute on, 1 off. My heart rate was spiking, I was sweating, bent over, and in all sorts of trouble. I got home and swore it wasn’t for me. Two days later, I was back out again….

Sabrina and former Wainwrights record-holder Paul Tierney training on Lake District trails. Shoes: TRAILFLY G 270

Training for, competing in and completing the Marathon Des Sables in 2018 was my greatest running achievement to date. Before I decided to do this, I had never considered ‘going long’. I had friends through running clubs who were ultra-runners but I just thought they were a bit strange. I wanted an adventure for my 40th birthday. To participate in something that was just for me.

That answered some deep questions I was asking myself. Running an ultramarathon in heat, in the desert, carrying all of my own kit and looking after myself was so foreign to me, but again it sparked something inside. I was a mixed-race woman from the Cotswolds, a teenage mum from a low-income family who – I felt – had no right to be on that start line. So to cross the finish line as 13th UK woman into the arms of Patrick Bauer – the daddy of MdS – and get that medal was a very special moment and one that will stay with me forever.

I am a plodder. I was built to go long. Every muscle sinew in me wants to go long. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good speed session and earlier this year – while in lockdown – I trained for and ran a marathon PB, knocking a decent amount off my previous time.

But I love playing the long game. I love everything about ultra-distance running. The aid stations, the terrain of trail ultras, the people, the kit, but mostly the alone time – the time that you have with yourself, your thoughts, working through all that stuff. And that moment, after running through the night, when the dawn comes and you cannot help but take a deep breath in and just marvel at what you can do – it’s amazing. I don’t get those feelings from any distance under 26.2.

Damian Hall (who has been coaching Sabrina) photographed at the end of his record-breaking 268-mile run on the Pennine Way. Shoes: TRAILFLY G 270

I started working with Damo when I decided I wanted to have a go at mountain running. I was looking for a coach that had been there, done that and got the proverbial t-shirt. I believe in the power of coaching, of sharing your goals with someone who believes in you and has the skills in your chosen discipline – and results – to know what it takes. My clients expect that from me, and I expect it of people who coach me. Damo gives me this and more. My top three tips are:

Consistency is key: Training is a progressive and adaptive curve. The best training cycles, which result in the best gains, come from consistent training. A big part of this involves ‘listening’ to your body. Many athletes ignore the body’s signals of over-training, pushing through pain or not balancing training with everyday life stressors. This leads to fatigue, injury and burnout and consistency takes a hit, which impacts on results. Aim for consistency by tuning into your body’s signals, it’ll result in a smoother training curve.

Cross-training is imperative: As we get older, the need for the body to be stronger is imperative. Without strength and conditioning training is a part of my training plans, I wouldn’t be where I am today. It’s non-negotiable. Running big mileage week-in, week-out with no form of cross-training is not achievable long term without major issues occurring. Work with a qualified person to discuss your goals and get a strength & conditioning plan in place. It’ll be worth its weight in gold.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable: You have to mentally and physically work to become more comfortable in really uncomfortable situations. In my training at the moment, that’s the mountains. Ridge running, practicing descending faster and trying to allay the fear of face-planting or falling off the side of a mountain. Everyone has their ‘thing’. So, practice it. Put yourself in that situation in training so that, come race day, it’s second nature. Only by getting comfortable being uncomfortable can truly realise our potential.

So, I live in the Cotswolds. The Cotswold Way is my local trail. For those that don’t know, it’s a marked trail that starts in Chipping Campden and ends at Bath Abbey. It winds its way through the most beautiful parts of the area, taking in some of the best views (which means a lot of climbing and descending).

The Cotswold Way has been my playground since taking up trail running, but I’d never considered running the whole thing until a few years ago. My intention was to sign up to do the Cotswold Way Century – a race organised by Cotswold Running – but, as with the majority of other races, it was cancelled. I have been in training for some mountain races which were cancelled for the last 6 months so I felt I wanted to use my training in some way, and running the Cotswold Way in one go felt like the right thing to do.

It’s a personal challenge and one which I am equally scared and excited about as it’ll be my first 100 miler. Plus, I have expectations of myself. I believe a challenge is only a challenge if there is a chance that you will not complete it. For me, running the Cotswold Way – and having a time in my mind – ticks those boxes. I’m due to start on Saturday August 29th.

Sabrina: “It’s about the trails, the countryside and enabling access to this space for all.”

Imperative. It’s #1 in my toolbox. Doctors are now starting to prescribe parkrun to people who are battling mental health issues and this is a good step forward. For me, it’s about nature. It’s about the trails, the countryside and enabling access to this space for all.

Hence the reason I am one of the co-founders of Black Trail Runners – a community and campaigning group whose aim is to take action to address key barriers to trail running for black people. Barriers surrounding access, skills and representation as three key tenets of our work.

I and 7 other black and bi-racial founders set up Black Trail Runners in July. We comprise of trail runners, ultrarunners and an outdoor specialist. We set up the community as, as black trail runners, our lived experience in this discipline is that of being seen as an oddity on the trails. We don’t see people at races who look like us, in marketing that look like us, or in media that look like us. So, as a black person, you start to think ‘is there a reason for this?’ ‘Is this a safe space for us?’

It’s not JUST about representation, although of course, this is a big part of the issue. How are black people supposed to believe that trail running is for them when they don’t see across media and brand marketing people that represent them, that they can identify with?

I believe YOU CANNOT BE WHAT YOU CANNOT SEE and, for black people in trail running this is a barrier. As I said above, other barriers are to do with access to trail running (from grassroots level) and also skills knowledge (navigation, run skills, kit, nutrition, safety etc). There is much work to be done but, since our launch in July, the feedback has been mostly positive from the black community and white allies.

Of course, there has been pushback. The old ‘but running is for everyone’, ‘all you need is a pair of trainers’ comments. Our lived experience is that this is not the case when it comes to trail running for black people and that’s why we created the community. To open up dialogue, to provide a safe space for black trail runners and to challenge perceptions about what trail running is and isn’t for us as black people.

Sabrina (seen here training in the Lake District) will attempt to run the 102-mile Cotswold Way in late August. 

It’s a complex issue and one that cannot be addressed appropriately in just an editorial context. We believe there is a lack of diversity for the reasons above – access, skills and representation. No matter how it’s dressed up, the countryside is seen as a white space. Black people were encouraged to urban environments – cities – to help to re-build the country post WW2 and, for this and other reasons, this led to the urbanisation of black people.

The countryside, consciously and unconsciously, has been promoted as the playground for white people and this ‘ideal’ continues. This results in trail running not being seen as a favoured pastime within the black community.

At a basic level, why would you want to engage in an activity that does nothing to understand who you are, that – due to representation – stops you engaging in it and really doesn’t seek to understand on a deeper level how you can be supported? Until all of these areas are addressed, and action taken, under-representation will continue.

Yes, as our first campaign we penned an open letter to race and event organisers. As Black Trail Runners we know that there is a problem with diversity in trail running but, in order to change future policy and to inform our future campaigning, we want the data. The problem is, many race organisers, to date, have not collected ethnicity data from people via race registrations. Our letter urges organisers to change this. Incorporate the ethnicity data questions and support us by providing anonymous data. This will help to facilitate future change and programmes to enable more black people to take up trail running.

The initial response has been pretty phenomenal, with many large and small organisers committing to working on this and supporting us going forward. Big names in the UK, and international trail running community, such as Centurion Running, Threshold Events and US based Life Time (Leadville 100) event organisers committing to supporting us. We are providing constant updates via our social media channels on this.

Charlie Ramsay (right) and Nicky Spinks, photographed together after Nicky became the first person to complete an incredible 116-mile Double Ramsay Round in the Scottish mountains.

Charlie Ramsay: This is a prime example of the lack of representation of black trail runners. Charlie Ramsay is a black man and his timed completion of one of – if not the – UK’s toughest rounds has not been promoted enough. There is no book, no film, no footage of interviews. Where is the story of this man?! He is inspirational. As a half Scottish, Black Trail runner, there is no one I would put above Charlie Ramsay in terms of my ultimate trail run buddy.

Nicky Spinks: I mean. C’mon. As a female trail runner, and a bit of a fan girl, I have been following Nicky for years. I remember seeing her in the airport at Geneva last year post UTMB and I wanted to say hello but was too shy (yes, me!) I had the pleasure of spending some time with her on an INOV8 shoot last month but, as we were both there to do a job, I didn’t want to ‘get in the way’. However, I would love to go on a trail run with her and share stories. There’s a lot I feel I could learn from her in terms of access and skills, I hope to be able to do that one day.

Kelly Holmes: I admire Kelly for various reasons. One of these being her sheer grit and determination to achieve her Olympic goals. To battle mental health issues, constant injury and to be almost written off and then to come back and do what she did in getting those Olympic gold medals was, and is still, the stuff of dreams. Kelly is mixed race too, so I believe we will have experienced some of the same things. I’m not sure how much trail running Kelly has done so I’d love to take her around some of my favourite trails.

*Related INOV8 links: Beginner’s Guide To Ultra Running | Mental Tips For Ultras

*Related external links: Sabrina interviews with Women’s Running & The Running Channel

*Follow Sabrina’s journey on Instagram: @sabrunsmiles

*Follow Black Trail Runners on Instagram: @blacktrailrunners

*Join the Black Trail Runners Facebook Community Group