Joseph Gray's Journey to Justice

By Cole Manley

In the world of mountain running, few can match Joseph Gray’s accomplishments: an 18 time national champion, a World Mountain Running Champion in 2016 and 2019, and a winner of prestigious races including the Pikes Peak Ascent and the Mount Washington Road Race. To many of his peers and fans, he is the United States’ best mountain runner, and one of the best in the world. If there’s a mountain with a trail, Joe Gray has probably run up and down it faster than you.

Gray is also one of the few elite African-American trail runners. Trail running, perhaps even more than road running, is filled with white runners, and the little money in the sport tends to go towards white athletes. In a 2017 article in the Trail Runner magazine, Gray commented on the lack of opportunities for non-white distance and trail runners, explaining that “[o[ne of the reasons there aren’t more African-American distance runners or trail runners is because there aren’t as many opportunities. That’s just a fact.” Throughout his many years in international competitions at the World Mountain Running Championships--the most prestigious event in the sport--, Gray has been the only athlete of color on the United States team.

Often, he has faced racism in domestic and international competitions. In a 2020 article, he wrote that after winning the Pikes Peak Ascent, he was cooling down when a van sped by him with the passengers shouting the N-word at him. On a trail run in the Pacific Northwest, where he is from, he faced similar racist abuse.

These incidents of racism reflect ongoing structural injustices within the country, but they also reflect racial disparities within the sport. While surely some progress has been made in advancing gender and racial equality within the sport, Gray understands that there is a long way to go. Many race start lines continue to look overwhelmingly white.

For all of his accomplishments, and despite all the discrimination he has faced, Gray’s career still seems to have gone slightly underrecognized within and outside the sport. One of Gray’s recent rivals on the trails of Colorado has been Seth DeMoor, the personable and talented ultra and mountain runner with a devoted Youtube following (myself included). Seth seems to be a friendly and encouraging runner, someone who understands Gray’s talent on many levels. Seth has often come in second place in Pikes Peak races over the years, a few minutes behind Gray. I think Seth does understand the brilliance of Joe’s career.

But there was an episode on Seth’s Youtube channel which rubbed me the wrong way. I’ve been watching Seth’s videos every day for the past two years, so I’m familiar with the topics he tends to bring up, and what he may overlook. In late September, Seth set a fastest known time (FKT) on the Boulder Skyline Traverse trail, an approximately 17 mile run across several mountains near Boulder, Colorado. It was an impressive performance. But, just a few days later, Joe ran the same course six minutes faster, setting the new (supported) FKT of 2 hours and 32 minutes. On his Youtube channel the day after he found out about Joe’s performance, Seth mentioned that his record had been broken, but he did not name Joe as the runner. He did not mention who had beaten the mark.

I found that a bit unsettling. I don’t think erasing Joe’s name from his video was an act of malice. It was probably something that Seth did not even think to include. But I think the lack of recognition of Joe’s accomplishment speaks to a larger problem within the sport of running. Historically, and to this day, white runners continue to receive the lion’s share of money, fame, and attention.

When historic performances like Joe’s are not recognized appropriately, the biases in media coverage and sponsorship only replicate themselves. In order to rectify the racial inequalities within the sport of running, it is up to white runners to acknowledge our own biases and the power and privilege we hold. Seth has a huge platform through YouTube, Facebook, and other social media outlets. He has more than 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, and his videos receive tens of thousands of views each day. His voice has become a prominent and influential one within the sport, and, even more importantly, his videos reach tens of thousands of young runners--teenagers who are just learning about the sport. What message does it send to these young runners when Joe Gray’s name is erased?

The problem is more of a lack of awareness and less of an explicit attempt at erasure. The names and voices we hear and think about when we think about running have an enormous effect on racial and gender representation, and on the future of this sport. Commentators and YouTubers such as Seth can become part of changing the culture of media coverage, or they can replicate the biases of the past. It is up to viewers and consumers of media--people like me--to call out problems and power dynamics. We all have the capacity to learn about and recognize the many beautiful runners within the sport, and there should be a new level of attention given to Joe Gray’s career.

You can follow Joseph Gray on Instagram and Twitter.