Athletics Ontario Running Podcast · John Shep

EP 212: Judith Kasiama, Colour the Trails - Trailblazing Inclusion & Reclaiming the Outdoors

·37 min·2 clips

Judith says diversity work is often seen as replacing people, when she sees it as an invitation.

1. Athletics Ontario Running Podcast interviews Judith Kasiama of Colour the Trails about inclusion, trail running, and outdoor representation. 2. John Shep hosts the episode and Judith Kasiama joins as founder of Colour the Trails, an organization that creates outdoor community space. 3. The episode asks what access to the outdoors looks like when representation, trust, and community building are part of the goal. 4. Judith says she got into trail running in university by taking laps on beautiful trails behind campus during exams. 5. She trained for a half marathon through a one-on-one running course while preparing to graduate and says she enjoyed "the me time" and the training. 6. She says mountain biking on the North Shore gives her the same calm because the technical climbs demand breathing control and concentration. 7. Judith locates herself on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Seltooth and Squamish nations in the Vancouver area. 8. She says her mission began after university when she worked in international studies, history, and gender studies and spent time with Syrian refugees in Jordan. 9. She describes managing a coffee shop in Vancouver, hiking with customers who became friends, and reading widely while noticing the lack of representation in outdoor media around 2017. 10. She says she began speaking online about the absence of diverse people in outdoor branding and storytelling because Canada is diverse and those people were not being shown. 11. Judith says one company CEO later apologized after doing research and realizing there was a wide group of outdoor customers who were not being reached or made to feel seen. 12. She says Colour the Trails also started as a way to build a safe space in Vancouver and to meet people while learning together. 13. Judith says some people reacted as if diversity were a replacement of themselves rather than an invitation for more people to enjoy the sport. 14. She says she received hostile messages in 2017, including people contacting her workplace and accusing her of trying to remove white people from the outdoors. 15. Judith says post-2020 diversity and inclusion work is now harder to fund, and that DEI efforts are often the first to be cut when budgets shrink. 16. She says Colour the Trails still sees people showing up, making friends at events, and finding a community that supports mental health and black joy. 17. The conversation is interview-based, conversational, and reflective, with John Shep frequently sharing examples from his own trail experiences. 18. Judith answers directly and at length, with a calm tone even when discussing backlash, funding strain, and allyship. 19. Best for runners interested in outdoor equity and community-building. 20. Less useful for listeners wanting race recaps or training splits.

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