Details About the #BGRBoycott &

What You Can Do to Help

Last month, we announced that Black Girls RUN! would no longer support and/or promote specific races and racing organizations that we felt were not supportive of the organization. We have received a tremendous amount of support from our members and the broader running community. The resounding questions we are continuously asked are "what does this really mean?" and "how can I help?"

(If you haven't listened to the Real Runners of Atlanta podcast, where we explained in even greater detail, we suggest you do so ASAP. You can listen here. p.s. Thank you guys for having us on!) 

We wanted to share some additional insight and context around the announcements, and provide a clear call to action for how the BGR! community can support us in this effort, and how the entire running community can join in to make the greatest impact. 

In light of the current political climate, we believe it's more important than ever to show the world that we can come together for greater impact and positive change. This is certainly a conversation that will continue you.

Thank you for standing in solidarity with us. 

- Toni & Ashley

How You Can Support the #BGRBoycott

Why Is BGR! boycotting these races?

• Black Girls RUN! has requested that all racing companies work with the organization nationally to develop partnerships and relationships with our local groups.
• To avoid the middleman (national), organizations are reaching out to our local members and Ambassadors and establishing partnerships, agreements, contracts, etc. using our brand, running groups, etc. with no investment (monetary or otherwise) into our organization.
• When this happens, we are unable to approach these organizations to develop a partnership because they already have the groups, members, and ambassadors promoting their event  - for practically free, instead of paying Black Girls RUN! marketing, advertising, promotional dollars
• Simply put, these organizations are using Black Girls RUN! for its benefit without contributing or giving back to the people who work hours on end every day to make sure our groups are operating seamlessly and that we continue to grow the movement . They are simply profiting from the hard work, time and resources invested in the organization - from volunteers, ambassadors, run coordinators, etc.
• Our goal is simply this: To be completely transparent with our members about why we do not support/promote certain races and to stop these organizations for causing further confusion and misalignment between our national focus and goals, and local groups.

What does this mean for BGR! Members?

• We are asking BGR! members to stand united with us in this boycott.
• This means that you do not support the following races through promotion, registration, meet ups, etc.
• Hot Chocolate Race Series
• DIVAS Race Series
• Rock n’ Roll Race Series
• Niagara Falls Women’s Half Marathon
• We recognize your accomplishments in training, however in order to stand collectively and have the most impact, effective January 1, 2017, let’s only support the races that support Black Girls RUN!.
• If you are interested in a race being added to our partnership list, please contact Jay Ell Alexander, jayell.alexander@blackgirlsrun.com

What Do We Want Members to Do [or Not to Do]

• Until further notice, BGR! is not supporting the following races:
• Hot Chocolate Race Series
• DIVAS Race Series
• Rock n’ Roll Race Series
• Niagara Falls Women’s Half Marathon
• These races have many of our members registered and participating in upcoming races.
• For races remaining in 2016, we encourage you to move forward as planned with running your registered race, participate in race meet-ups, photo ops, and finisher photos.
• Effective January 1, 2017, group Facebook pages cannot advertise meet-ups, events, registration deadlines of these events. BGR! groups should not be affiliated with the races listed above in any way.
• While we are not stating that ladies can't personally promote the races on their own Facebook pages, we ask that these activities not be promoted on the BGR! group Facebook pages.
• We encourage BGR! members to continue to wear their BGR! shirts and gear when participating in any racing event.
• We are also asking that you reach out directly to these organization and show that you’re with BGR! in not supporting their event. Be sure to use hashtag #BGRBoycott in your posts.
• Please be cautious that this also includes discount codes, volunteer recruitment, bib transfer request, travel and meetups plans and race related things for these organizations not be posted on our pages either.
• All race partnerships (existing and new) should be directed to Jay Ell Alexander (jayell.alexander@blackgirlsrun.com) to fill out the following form.
• https://goo.gl/forms/N8u2FMmouEfNJMDw1
• All races must fill out the form above.

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