Running Industry Diversity Coalition’s Trail Research Is Moving Youth Runners Onto Philly's Trails

Some incredible news to share. Students Run Philly Style (SRPS) has been awarded a $300,000, three-year grant from the William Penn Foundation to bring trail running into its programming. And we are proud to share that RIDC's research on racial diversity in trail running helped shape the way.

This is exactly why we do the work. Our research was built to give organizations real evidence to act on. Seeing SRPS use it to open up parks and trails for more than 1,000 youth runners is a powerful reminder that good research becomes good action when the right partners pick it up.

In the words of SRPS Executive Director Lauren Kobylarz, "RIDC's research gave their project a critical anchor and a larger context for access, safety, and inclusion in trail running. It helped them turn the requests coming directly from their youth participants into concrete next steps. As she put it, “without research like this, organizations can make generalizations but not conclusions. We are honored to add collective evidence to the experiences SRPS sees on the ground every day”.

Through its Trailblazers program, SRPS will increase access for students to run on both surface and paved trails across Philadelphia, activating the city's parks and the Circuit Trails system. They are also hiring a new program manager to bring these events and initiatives to life.

This is what a larger movement looks like. It is about shaping environments where everyone can truly grow, succeed, and thrive, and it is about more runners feeling that the trail belongs to them too.

Congratulations, SRPS. We cannot wait to see your students out there!!