If you think you can’t accomplish a lot of change and challenge yourself to achieve new goals in a short amount of time, then you’ll benefit from listening to this chat with Diarra Cropper. I’ve gotten to know the ever-enthusiastic Diarra through the Black Men Run community. Black Men Run is a dynamic nationwide organization that is a movement that encourages Black men to be active to reverse health risks like hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and mental depression that disproportionally affect this population. The organization conducts meetups to bring local chapters together and organizes to connect at races throughout the country. I began running with the Denver chapter three years ago and have developed many great friendships. With awesome leadership, the Denver chapter has been one of the fastest-growing in the country. Diarra, like many African-American male track athletes, gravitated toward the power events like sprints. And why not? If you turned on a marathon on TV, the only Black runners you saw were Kenyans and Ethiopians, almost no Americans. Black runners were virtually absent from ultramarathons. When Diarra moved to Colorado Springs, it opened up a whole new world of trail running to him. Within a couple of short years, Diarra is now crushing trail ultras and through an almost-random encounter at the Leadville Trail 100, has recently gotten sponsored by Speedland. He's become a leader as well of the BMR sub-chapter in Colorado Springs. What’s been super cool is that there are others in Black Men Run running ultras, and during our group runs it’s exciting hearing the chatter about ultrarunning. The tide is definitely turning, too, as you see more Black runners at marathons and ultramarathons, and you are beginning to see lots more women and runners of other colors out there as well. I have no doubt that Diarra, with his passion and drive, is headed toward becoming a major force in the ultrarunning scene. Before we jump in, I’d encourage you to go to blackmenrun.com to find a local chapter. I got involved after the insane killing of Ahmaud Arberry, which woke me up to the fact that it is markedly less safe for a Black man to simply go for a run anywhere he wants unlike a white guy like me can. I’ve never regretted finding this really positive group to run with.

Diarra Cropper
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Bill Stahl
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