Didn’t get the invigorating finish she hoped for. Valerio runs what is taken into account to be the slower pace, between 13 and 17 minutes. She was the last person to complete the race, which suited her – finish is finish! Except, just as she stepped off the end-of-race mat, she heard a loud ripping of tape—the sound of the finish mat being pulled up.
“It completely destroyed the moment that this sort of sacred moment was interrupted by the sound of the mat ripping,” says Valerio. “Couldn’t they wait 10 more seconds?”
Valerio has unfortunately experienced this lack of what she calls “turning on the pace” repeatedly. Pace integration means all gears are considered motionirrespective of how briskly or slow. This means designing and staffing races to accommodate all paces. So no offensive, moment-ruining pull-ups on the finish line, no crashing water stations and trail markers before everyone has passed them, no abandoning runners to seek out your personal technique to the finish line.
Valerio says many races even call themselves “inclusive pace”, but still engage in these demoralizing practices. In the times before GPS, Valerio sometimes needed to wander through the woods in search of the correct path as signposts were removed and race guides were pulled from their posts and sent back to base.
“They don’t think anything slower than 10 minutes or 11 minutes of a mile counts as a run, so that they’ll leave you,” says Valerio. “I’ve been left behind repeatedly.”
Promoting inclusive running is certainly one of the explanations Valerio signed up for certainly one of her most ambitious runs ever: the lululemon FURTHER initiative. On March 8, International Women’s Day 2024, Valerio and nine other women will run a six-day ultramarathon. There is not any set distance, however the goal is to run so far as possible during these six days.
Other FURTHER participants include a world record holder Kamil Herronsurgeon turned skilled ultramarathon runner Stefanie FlippinHost of the Women of Distance podcast Devon JankoBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor Wriko Kwok (beginner runner), amongst various runners from all over the world.
Photo: lululemon
The FURTHER initiative also features a research component where lululemon i Canadian Pacific Sports Institute will study participants to publish research on how female bodies perform in endurance sports – part of a bigger effort to fill a research gap within the science of girls’s athletic performance.
“I actually have my very own personal goal, what number of miles I need to do, [although] that would change in the following nine months,” says Valerio. “But I also actually need to be a beacon for those individuals who have to see me. And even for those individuals who never wish to see me run, I actually have to be a beacon for them too.”
“I also actually need to be a beacon for those individuals who have to see me. And even for those individuals who never wish to see me run, I actually have to be a beacon for them too.” — Mirna Valeria
Valerio is more built, black, and a mother in her forties. She says she is probably not what people imagine once they think “runner”, but she wants to point out that she too looks what a runner looks like. Lululemon helps reinforce this image by working with Valerio to design a race running kit that meets Valerio’s specific needs. They asked her what she needed and the way they may construct something higher, after which they designed clothes that truly fit. “I’m not dragging him up. I’m not pushing it down,” she says.
It wasn’t at all times like that. “I just take into consideration how repeatedly prior to now I’ve needed to wear men’s clothes that did not fit properly,” says Valerio. “We weren’t seen as serious athletes, so no one sewed serious sportswear for us in our serious pursuits. But now working with lululemon was phenomenal. I’m involved within the matching process, the idea-making process.”
Valerio has faced criticism for not following typical racing standards, whether it’s comments about her body or her pace. But the way in which running nourishes her body and soul is what keeps her moving. He also hopes he might help others—who could also be facing inner criticism or self-doubt—to tap into their inner runner as well.
“It’s really hard to counter these images and thoughts because that is all we have been showered with,” says Valerio. “We see a really particular picture or let’s call it an aspirational picture of who runners are or what pace a runner should run. But all of us comprehend it’s just a few aspirational ideal that has nothing to do with us. Be your personal aspirational ideal.”
