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PIONEERS Run Crew’s 26.TRUE Marathon is how you really run Boston
Runners gather, it’s a crisp Boston morning in April. The sun is dispersing the morning mist but not quite warming the bare shoulders poking out from tank tops just yet. Shoelaces are being tightened. Muscles stretched. Bibs safety-pinned. Energy drinks sipped. Porta-a-potty lines waited on. It’s a classic race morning atmosphere for a marathon in Boston.
Except, everyone is set to start their 26.2-mile journey IN Boston. And they will continue to cover almost the entirety of the marathon distance within the neighborhoods of the city.
This is the 26.TRUE Marathon and this group of 200 runners of all races and paces gathered at the Shelburne Community Center in Roxbury on Saturday morning for the fourth edition of this unsanctioned event organized by Dorchester-based PIONEERS Run Crew. With an emphasis on inclusivity, 26.TRUE has lower barriers to entry, both financially and in terms of running pace than the Boston Athletic Association’s Boston Marathon.
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We’re not in Hopkinton anymore. We’re in Boston.
“We all know there’s a little thing happening on Monday but this is the real Boston Marathon,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told the crowd of runners, volunteers, organizers, bicyclers, and fans before the start onto Dale Street along Malcolm X Park.
As has become tradition for this community-first distance run scheduled for the last few years on the Saturday in April before the B.A.A.’s marathon, there is no running clock or preferential treatment for faster finishers. Every single person who crosses the finish line gets to break the tape and is celebrated like a champion. From its outset, the 26.TRUE Marathon has been a celebration of everyone involved rather than a competition between them.
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“The mission of PIONEERS Run crew is to explore, motivate, and inspire,” Sharon Lee, a Pioneers Run Crew co-captain and a key organizer of the 26.TRUE Marathon, said to the crowd before the start on Saturday. “Whether this is your first time running with us, or if you’ve been part of our community for some time, I hope you take a moment to reflect on what we are doing here today. This isn’t just a marathon. It’s a movement, an ideological shift. We are here redefining what a marathon in Boston can look like and showing what inclusivity and diversity in running means. Each of you are part of history and the making.”
In contrast to the B.A.A.’s Boston Marathon route which begins in the town of Hopkinton and stays in the predominantly white suburbs until its final miles, the 26.TRUE course starts and ends in Roxbury and passes through more than a dozen relatively diverse neighborhoods within Boston, including Mattapan, Hyde Park, Roslindale, Jamaica Plain, Allston, South End, Chinatown, South Boston and Back Bay. With only a symbolic segment outside of the city limits in Brookline, 26.TRUE offers an alternative vision of running Boston, one that values inclusivity and community above elitism and competition.
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“Today we’re putting Boston on the map, by putting Boston on the map,” PIONEERS Run Crew co-captain Barak Soreff, who plotted the course for the 26.TRUE Marathon, told the crowd before the start on Saturday. “Every spring there’s a marathon here in the city’s name, but it’s only in the city for a mile and a half. We don’t feel like that tells the whole story. So we want to show you the city.”
‘It’s important to show that it’s possible’
Sidney Baptista founded PIONEERS Run Crew in 2017 and then PYNRS, the first Black-owned running-specific apparel company in the country, in 2020, but distance running wasn’t something he was exposed to growing up.
“I’m born and raised in Dorchester in Boston. My family immigrated here from West Africa. Both my parents were born in Cape Verde,” Baptista said. “So I was a first-generation American here in Boston. I grew up in the city, went to school in the city up until eighth grade and then went to boarding school for high school. I was one of the few kids that got pulled up out the ‘hood and placed somewhere else. That was really my first understanding of what life looked like outside of my neighborhood and what the world looked like in terms of the abundance of wealth, the peace, and what other communities had.”
After securing a job working for a Big Four accounting firm, Baptista realized his passion was bringing experiences and opportunities perhaps common elsewhere to Black and brown communities like his. He left his job at PriceWaterhouseCoopers to focus on creating local music festivals featuring hip hop music, but eventually planning setbacks while working with the city left him adrift.
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“I had quit my job to become an entrepreneur, to start festivals. I was trying to raise money, my first real go at it in a big way and they just stopped talking to me. So I was like, ‘damn, I quit my job to do this thing that’s not working,’” Baptista said. “I didn’t have a job. I had a mid-life crisis and was having panic attacks. I had what I call a mental health episode. Then one day I was walking downtown and I saw one of my homies, Jarik Walker, running.”
At the time, Walker — who more adventurous runners might know from The Speed Project — was working at the Nike store in Boston and a leader for the run club hosted there. After seeing how happy his friend looked that day, it wasn’t long before Baptista was also coming out to run.
“I joined him and I just fell in love. It was hard, it sucked, but the community, the people there were super nice,” Baptista said. “They would beat me, but they were nice about it! I had come from a space where you play basketball, you talk sh**. There’s no nice. But, in running, it is so nice. People are like, ‘Oh, keep going, buddy. You got this! Keep working!’ I thought this was weird, but I fell in love with it.”
Baptista seeing Walker running that day in Back Bay not only altered the trajectory of his own life, but ultimately had an indelible impact on the entire Boston running community. After starting to run out of the Nike store with Walker, Baptista became a leader for that run club, and then eventually realized he wanted to bring this opportunity and experience back to his own community in Dorchester.
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“I got into running at a late stage in life when I saw another Black man running distance. It took me 27 years to see that,” Baptista told runners before they embarked on their trek through Boston on Saturday. ‘So when I found running and it brought joy and stabilized my mental health, I thought it was important to bring it to our community. The mission of PIONEERS Run Crew is to diversify running in Boston, and the only way we’re going to do that is if these Black and brown kids in Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan wake up on a Saturday morning and there are people running through their neighborhoods.”
In the years since Baptista founded PIONEERS Run Crew, so many runners have come to their weekly Wednesday night runs, participated in events like 26.TRUE, and helped grow the community.
“It’s a luxury to have this thing where people from all walks of life come together with this common interest and you just go on a run and you just talk. It’s a vibe,” PIONEERS Run Crew co-captain Jeremy Guevara said ahead of 26.TRUE 2024. “It has been so valuable to a lot of people and you hear people say things like ‘running saved my life’ or’ running introduced me to my spouse.’”
Thanks to his marketing and social media savvy, Guevara, from Roslindale, quickly went from just showing up at PIONEERS runs to helping engage and invite more folks via the crew’s social media accounts. Beyond leveraging his digital acumen to uplift the crew’s mission, Guevara wants to be visible for others as an example of what is possible for them.
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“I’m a first-generation Central American here, and I’m also a bigger dude. In inner city neighborhoods, there are a lot of weight issues, lower-quality food, and a lot of fast food. It’s just a different culture versus going into someplace like the Seaport,” Guevara said a few days before running 26.TRUE on Saturday. “So, you know, I think it’s very important to see a bigger guy run distance. It’s important to show that it’s possible. To me, if I can do it, anyone can do it. My goal isn’t necessarily to ever be the fastest, it’s just to be able to show people that we can all do this.”
‘These are people who recognize the value in an event like this’
PIONEERS Run Crew co-captain Barak Soreff initially drew up the 26.TRUE route in 2020 after the B.A.A announced that runners registered for the Boston Marathon that year could complete the distance virtually and receive a finisher’s medal. For the first time in its 124-year history, the B.A.A. had canceled its marquee marathon because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The very first time we did it, it was mostly a PIONEERS thing,” Soreff said ahead of the 2024 26.TRUE Marathon. “It was COVID and the B.A.A. had offered a virtual medal. We had so many people who were going to run that year, and everyone felt if they were going to run a virtual then it would be cool to get a Boston Marathon medal and run in Boston. That’s why we made the route to begin with. We had 30 or so people run it, and I don’t think we expected to do it again.”
But interest from the running community in Boston and beyond defied that expectation.
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“Then all these people reached out to us, even friends we have in New York and DC, like all these places,” Soreff said. “They were like, ‘This seems really cool,’ so we started sharing the story and people were like, ‘I would love to run in Boston.’”
For people who want to run in Boston, there is nothing like 26.TRUE. Not only does it take participants through the city itself, but it is far more accessible than the B.A.A.’s marathon in terms of cost and pace requirements. In 2021, PIONEERS Run Crew hosted the inaugural in-person 26.TRUE Marathon and it has been run each year since. From 30-40 runners in the first few years, participation jumped to 80 in 2023 and then 200 in 2024.
The experience — and logistics work by volunteer organizers — has elevated along with the number of runners.
“We had these really big ideas of building an event that would have 200 runners, which requires a lot more support,” PIONEERS Run Crew co-captain and key race organizer Sharon Lee, who lives in Dorchester, said ahead of this year’s run. “Between the hours of work and play, we started branching out and building up a tremendous group of sponsors that really speak to the type of relationships we’re trying to build. These are people who recognize the value in an event like this, an unsanctioned event, and want to help us create a bigger and better experience.”
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For the second year in a row, PUMA was back as a sponsor in 2024, providing commemorative gear, including race jackets, to all participants. Red Bull helped lift the mood and the volume at the post-race block party. Other sponsors included Honey Stinger, Marathon Sports, Brooks, Delta Physical Therapy, Foreword Spine & Sport, Topo Athletics, Pen & Paces, and Fresh Food Generation provided Caribbean-inspired meals at the finish.
Mingling among the many participants at the start in 2024 and the running alongside them — or likely a bit ahead of most — for 19 miles of the course on Saturday was even a bronze medalist in the marathon: U.S. Olympian Molly Seidel.
“To get to really know the local, real Boston is awesome”
The 26.TRUE Marathon remains a run for Boston, but word of the event has spread far from the city. In 2024, runners from around the United States and several other countries made the trip to the Hub to participate. Anthony DePaz came from San Diego, California after learning about the race from his sister, who lives in Chicago.
“Running is a very individual sport, but my sister actually got me into running clubs,” DePaz said on Saturday near the cheer station at the Hyde Park Community Center. “‘I’ve run with Family Style Run Crew, and they’re very welcoming. They’re an AAPI run group, and they really empower everyone from seven-minute-mile runners to party pace, like 13- 14-minute runners. They’re welcoming and I’ve built friendships outside of that running group. It’s not just running. I think 26.TRUE is part of what Family Style also embodies. They embrace the local communities and bring love to everyone who wants to express themselves.”
Before coming to Boston for the 26.TRUE Marathon, DePaz had only been to Boston once before.
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My first time in Boston I was doing the tourist stuff: I went to TD Garden, the Museum of Fine Arts, and then to visit one of my friends at Tufts,” Depaz said. “Today is my first time in these neighborhoods. To get to really know the local, real Boston is awesome. That’s so amazing.”
‘We want runners to get that vibe’
The 26.TRUE Marathon course winds through 14 different official neighborhoods and the organizers’ aim for runners to catch a glimpse — and maybe an aroma — of what makes each distinct. To help keep runners spirits and hydration up, cheer stations with water and fuel dot the course every few miles. To help make the experience at each aid stop hyperlocal, race organizers reached out to other running clubs and ally groups throughout the city to host cheer zones.
“Knowing that we want our cheer zones to also reflect the neighborhoods was a big part of why we did this,” said Sharon Lee, a PIONEERS Run Crew co-captain and key race organizer. “I really am big into building community and that’s beyond the superficial level. The run community is huge. We don’t think about that in Boston so much, but it’s been so powerful to have so many different run groups drop into our inbox and say, ‘I wanna help.’
As runners pass through Hyde Park just , they’ll be greeted by LiveFitArmy, founded by Dre Neita (NASM-CPT). LiveFitArmy specializes in personal training, small group training, and hosts a run team.
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“They know that we are out here doing our thing, our leg work as well,” said Neita of the request for support from PIONEERS Run Crew, “just like they are in Dorchester. So it was, it was an easy connection, ‘Hey, Dre, we’re running through Hyde Park. Can you have all your run team set up and pretty much do what you guys do?’”
Neita wanted runners to experience the LiveFitArmy vibes but also hopefully to catch a bit of local flavor as they passed through his neighborhood.
“Our cheer zone is gonna bring that motivation, loud music, high fives,” he said ahead of the race. “You’re gonna be smelling the cuisine in the area. They’re gonna smell that authentic jerk chicken. There’s a couple of Italian spots around too. We want runners to get that vibe in the area, that energy that we bring in Hyde Park.”
Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Neita moved to Boston with his family in 2004, then attending middle school, high school, and college locally. He’s lived in Mattapan and Hyde Park, where LiveFitArmy is based. The origin story and mission of LiveFitArmy is deeply connected to that of PIONEERS Run Crew.
Not only did Neita run 26.True on Saturday, but he started his day even earlier and participated in the B.A.A.’s Boston 5K as well. That’s nearly 30 miles of running before lunch.
“The motivation for building the run team was to see more folks like myself running,” Neita said. “When I first moved into America, one of the first roads that we drove on was Brook Road in Milton. I saw all these white people running, and, being a kid from Jamaica, I’m like, ‘I don’t see any Black people out here.’
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“I started something like this so more people will come and show up and they’ll get inspired by what I’m doing. There are all shapes, colors, sizes, ethnicities showing up. In Hyde Park, we got Blacks, Haitian, Dominican, Jamaican, all these different cultures showing up and we’re all together for one cause, which is running and improving our cardiovascular health.”
PIONEERS Run Crew founder Sidney Baptista appreciates the work Neita and his team are doing and is always eager to share whatever opportunities are coming his way.
“LiveFitArmy is truly a Black space. They’re deep in Hyde Park and they’re super. I love that community so much” said Baptista. “When opportunities come to us that we don’t need I say, ‘Hey, LiveFitArmy, you go, you take this Nike opportunity, take this opportunity, come do this, come do that’ because I wanna keep continuing to uplift those communities in that way.”
Other crews and groups hosting cheer stations included TrailblazHers Run Co., Somerville Road Runners, Black Girls Run!, Sole Train Boston, Boston While Black, PowerWithin Runhers, and Dorchester Running Club.
‘A lot of this is actually hurtful’
A day before the 2024 26.TRUE Marathon, Boston-based nonprofit Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of TrailblazHers Run Co. against the B.A.A. and the Newton Police Department to “forestall a repeat of the racial profiling incident that occurred at the 2023 Boston Marathon.”
The 2023 incident referred to in the lawsuit occurred at a cheer station co-hosted by Trailbazhers and PIONEERS Run Crew at Mile 21 in Newton. The group of spectators at the cheer station — mostly people of color brought together by the Black-led running crews to celebrate and support the marathoners — encountered a heavy police presence in the mostly white suburb for the sort of joyful support happening elsewhere that the lawsuit says received no negative response.
“I am deeply disappointed by the lack of attention that the BAA has given to our cause. Over the years we have worked tirelessly to make running more accessible to BIPOC runners in Boston, and we expected the BAA to be a partner in this endeavor. However, their actions have not lived up to their words,” TrailblazHers founder Liz Rock said in a statement shared by Lawyers for Civil Rights. “They claim to want to elevate diverse leaders in the sport, but they have consistently fallen short of this goal. Nevertheless, we are a determined group committed to making a fundamental change in this community. We will continue to push forward and work towards our mission despite the obstacles that we have faced.”
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A day before the lawsuit was filed in federal court, a B.A.A. spokesperson provided a statement to Boston.com about progress in creating an environment that is welcoming and supportive of the BIPOC communities at the marathon since the 2023
The B.A.A. is committed to a world where all people can access and benefit from running and an active lifestyle. One way we support that vision is by working with and in the local communities of Boston to provide a range of opportunities for all.
Following last year’s race, the B.A.A. listened to feedback from the Run Crews and have worked to make a number of key internal and external improvements and changes to support a more inclusive Boston Marathon. Many of those steps are reflected in updated guidelines, training, and programing. Key among them are: increased staff and volunteer DEIB training, improved communications about course guidelines, an expanded Boston’s Marathoners program, and expanding our work into predominantly BIPOC Boston and funding organizations serving BIPOC communities.
There is more work to be done but we have taken meaningful steps forward.
The Mile 21 incident served as a reminder of the deep, longstanding fissures within Boston and its running community. While many running groups showed support for TrailbazHers Run Co. and PIONEERS Run Crew in the aftermath of the incident, the negativity of others continued to take its toll even after the last runners of 2023 crossed the finish line. The occasionally collaborative but often contentious back and forth between the run crews, the B.A.A., and local law enforcement has lingered over the past year.
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“I remember last year when everything was happening, it was the most traction that PIONEERS has ever gotten. Being the social media person, I was the one on Instagram when we’re getting the viewership, the requests, the DMs, the follows. I wanted this traction for a long time and now we’re getting it, but the reason is bad,” PIONEERS Run Crew co-captain Jeremy Guevara said. “Being someone in it, I was reading everything and a lot of this was actually kind of hurtful. A lot of it was hard to read and the people reaching out, they’re not reaching out for the right reason. Like it was just a lot of that, and it was really, really difficult.”
‘It’s the Boston I’m proud to call home’
Seeing all the attention, supportive and antagonistic, on PIONEERS Run Crew social media posts immediately after the Mile 21 incident in 2023, Guevara encouraged his fellow leaders to share information about the 2024 edition of 26.TRUE as soon as possible. He sensed that runners near and far were eager to offer support if given a clear way to do so. And he was right. In a matter of weeks after registration was opened, 200 spots had been filled and a waitlist was started.
“We sold out on everything,” Guevara said. “It was overwhelming, but it was great.”
Amid the backdrop of unfolding legal case and with differences between the diverse, communal 26.TRUE Marathon and the B.A.A.’s Boston Marathon with its elite time-qualification standards and suburban route as stark as ever, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu stood alongside the PIONEERS Run Crew leaders in Roxbury on Saturday.
“Our goal every day is to make Boston a home for everyone with things that you need to be happy, healthy and safe,” Mayor Wu said to the crowd. “But home is not only where your basic needs are met. Home is where your dreams can grow. Home is where you are with the people that you love. So you all, PIONEERS and all the run crews here have been building a home. Might not be in one place at a time, it’s one step at a time, one race at a time, one movement at a time. But we are so grateful to partner with you.”
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Talk with anyone involved in planning or running 26.TRUE and notions of home, community and joy infuse the conversation. Toward the end of the runners’ guide shared with participants ahead of the event, there is even a poem written by a 16-year-old named Oriana who lives in Roxbury and is involved with 826 Boston, a nonprofit writing, tutoring, and publishing organization. The poem is called “The City That Gave Me Life” and it’s closing stanza perhaps eloquently and succinctly sums up so much about passion behind 26.TRUE and the experience of running it:
The Boston I Know is the Boston that made me
It’s the Boston I’m proud to call home
the city that gave me life
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