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Angel City Elite Wants to Diversify Distance Running, One Starting Line at a Time 114 Shares Photo: Angel City Elite, from left to right: Valeri Sanchez, Sabrina De La Cruz, Grace Zamudio, Andrea Guerra, and Grace Gonzales. At the starting line of the 2020 US Marathon Trials, Sabrina De La Cruz realized something felt off. There wasn t a lot of diversity, the professional runner told POPSUGAR, reflecting on last February s race in Atlanta. I didn t see a lot of Black people, Asian people, or people of color. Later, the numbers would back her up: the women s field was comprised of 92 percent white women, one percent Black women, one percent Asian women, and five percent other. ....
The team of women, all of whom are marathoners, is sponsored by Brooks Running, and each athlete will receive Brooks team gear and shoes, and have incentive bonuses in their contracts along with a travel budget. De La Cruz, Guerra, and Gonzales are coached by De La Cruz’s husband, Andres; while Sanchez and Graham-Zamudio will continue to work with their current coaches. All will continue to work full-time jobs on top of competing at an elite level. “I’ve had this idea for years but was scared because I didn’t know how to start it,” De La Cruz, 31, a 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier with a PR of 2:41:16, told ....