The BIPOC Women Runner Society offers space for new and experienced BIPOC runners to connect and stay active.

A new student organization this year at the University of Minnesota, the group was created with the goal of building a community for women of color on campus around being physically active and addressing the need for more inclusive wellness spaces.

Qaali Faarah, a second-year student and the group’s president, said one motivator for starting the organization was because of health disparities that exist for women of color.

“I pretty much decided to start this club because I would have loved to join this coming to college,” Faarah said. “Since it didn’t exist, I decided to create it myself, and I’m lucky to have some friends who decided to join in the process of it.”

Faarah said the group’s goal is to also host informational meetings on health disparities and organize other physical activities outside of runs.

“I am hoping that it could expand to rock climbing, cycling and things like that,” Faarah said. “It could become something for any type of woman because while the focus is on women of color, any woman can join.”

With the majority of the group’s board members being experienced runners the group aims to welcome people who have little to no experience, Faarah said. This helps the group to better inform how it can make its activities more accessible.

“We are doing this to be healthier and to build better habits and so this is the perfect place for anyone trying to do that,” Faarah said. “This is meant to be a space to motivate and inspire one another.”

Aisha Mohamud, a second-year majoring in neuroscience and vice president of the society, said the opportunity for leadership and the beginner-friendly aspect of the group is what appealed to her the most.

“I was like, ‘Wow, that sounds like a great idea,’” Mohamud said. “Being with a group that all have the same goal is way better than just being active by yourself.”

Mohamud said long-term goals for the group mainly have to do with engagement and creating more opportunities for women of color to get involved.

“I hope that it gets more BIPOC women together to just have fun running and being active,” Mohamud said. “I am a beginner myself, so the whole club is kind of founded off of that idea.”

Mohamud said that activities the group hopes to incorporate as early as next fall include scavenger hunts, fundraising event challenges and a half-marathon event.

The group, which currently has five members, is set to meet bi-weekly until the end of the semester to plan events for the upcoming fall semester and host one to two runs, according to Faarah. 

Their first official meeting took place Friday, March 28.  

Faarah said membership recruitment involved putting up flyers across campus and posting on social media to get exposure. The group has over 60 followers on Instagram and has received interest in leadership positions from everyone who filled out its application back in February. 

Ashley Yang, a first-year board member in charge of public relations, said she joined out of curiosity and wanting to meet other women of color who wanted to continue being active. 

Yang said her role currently involves managing social media, and while getting the word out can be challenging, she hopes to see the group expand over time. 

“I think especially women of color, it’s kind of hard to find space to be physically active and I think for women in general, it’s sometimes hard to go to a gym,” Yang said. “I want to see a community of women grow, who want to be active and have other people like them around them.”

Nima Darar, a first-year student and treasurer for the group, said that having been a part of other student organizations, she is excited to apply her experiences to helping BIPOC women get into running. 

The group plans to host its first run meeting on April 12. The board will meet again on April 7 to discuss open positions and planning for other upcoming events.