Boston, dating to 1897, is the world’s oldest annual marathon. That history comes with a lot of baggage. Benton, a member of Black Girls RUN!, has been heartened by the BAA’s commitment to help fight bias that has plagued the city for decades, but she’s also quick to point out that real progress will require sustained collaboration with neglected groups.
“We can move mountains if we allow each other space and listen to each other,” she said.
Suzanne Jones Walmsley, a Harvard alumna and the BAA’s director of youth and community engagement, cited the Boston Running Collaborative, founded in 2021, as a step forward. In a first, the collaborative has allotted multiple race bibs to athletes from underrepresented communities in the city. This year, nine inaugural runners will compete as part of the initiative. Qatarneh is one of them.
“When you have a race like the marathon that’s been successful, and it’s exciting, you don’t necessarily look at who’s there and — more importantly — who’s not there,” said Jones Walmsley ’91, who was inducted into Harvard’s Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2006. “You’d like to think it’s an equal system … but when you don’t dig down into what some of the systems are that prevent people from getting to a point where they can equally access [the race], you’re doing yourself a disservice.”
To enter Boston, a runner must qualify or compete through the BAA’s charity program, which requires raising a minimum of $5,000. Next up: expensive gear, supplemental nutrition, and hours (and hours) of training, any of which can be a barrier to entry. “Especially for people that live in the city — and this race happens in their hometown every year — how do we provide access to opportunity for them to be able to participate?” Jones Walmsley said.
On long training runs, Qatarneh has had plenty of time to ponder the same question.
“What does it mean to trailblaze?” she said. “To me, it means to change things with intention.” In other words, her goal is to help inspire a movement of empowered people who push back against the status quo and reject old ways of thinking. “I’m challenging the running sector by disrupting the narrative around what it means to be and look like a runner,” she said. “And I’m disrupting within the Harvard community by challenging what it means to be a scientist.”
Qatarneh, who received a master’s degree in biotechnology from the Extension School in 2020, directs a science education program housed in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. As a female scientist of color, and in a world where men still hold 65 percent of STEM occupations and where 70 percent of doctoral science degree recipients are white, she understands acutely the need for creating an environment that helps students thrive. She credits Harvard faculty and researchers, specifically the late biologist Rob Lue, with guiding her in her own professional journey.
“I’ve been very fortunate to be part of a team that has been incredibly uplifting and supportive,” she said. Lue, she added, “definitely fostered an environment where people felt supported and able to be their authentic selves.”