Student-Athletes in Running: Build Your Name Early

By Kiera Smalls

The Running Industry Diversity Coalition is growing. We've opened an office in Philadelphia and just launched two full-time roles as we build what's next.

That growth starts with showing up and building long-term relationships.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Live Like Blaine Foundation invited me to keynote this year's Captains' Practice Leadership Conference, a full-day leadership experience for nearly 100 high school student-athletes.

I was inspired by the energy in the room. These young athletes were eager, engaged, and ready to learn what leadership looks like on and off the field.

The message I shared was simple: your reputation is your brand.

For the athletes, that meant how you show up for your teammates, how you treat people, and how you move through the world, online and offline.

For RIDC, it meant how we show up—in our partnerships, programs, and the pathways we create. Our reputation is our brand, and we're being intentional about how we build next.

After five years of launching programs, building partnerships, and testing what works, we're clearer on what RIDC will focus on.

This clarity reflects where we're headed as an organization.

We are narrowing our focus to two core lanes. The first is employment pathways, helping people see a real future for themselves in the running industry, including college students and athletes. The second is participation pathways, expanding access through movement-based scholarships that help more people enter the sport.

We know competition plays a critical role in long-term engagement. Races, performance, and goal-setting matter. But they are not where most people begin.

I know this firsthand. In high school, I had a short stint playing volleyball, and I never would have imagined I'd spend nearly 20 years participating in the sport and business of running. I didn't enter through competition. I entered through access and awareness, and I stayed.

Long-term growth comes from expanding the base of the sport by welcoming people earlier, supporting them longer, and creating pathways that turn participation into lifelong engagement and, eventually, opportunity.

That approach is the throughline of our work and the standard we're holding ourselves to going forward.

RIDC meets people where they are and ensures that those exploring or just beginning to imagine a future in the sport and business of running have a clear place to start.

It’s an important moment for RIDC as we move into this next phase of growth. Whether you’re following our work, sharing opportunities, or engaging with our programs, we’re grateful to be building what’s next alongside our community.

Many thanks to ASICS for helping ensure I had giveaways for the students during my talk!