Diversity Among American Runners?

I absolutely love to run. Even when I suck at it. However, one thing troubles me about this sport or hobby or obsession or whatever you want to call it: it is really white and really heteronormative.

The December issue of Runner's World dealt to some extent with this issue. According to statistics reported in this issue, 69% of Runner's World readers are married, 82% are employed, the average reader age is 42 and almost 90% of readers of RW identify as white. The issue reported no stats about how readers might or might not identify as anything other than cisgendered. However, since very few states recognize gay marriage in the US, I would extrapolate that the vast majority of those 69% of readers who are married identify as straight or are at least in gender normative marriages. (I suppose I more or less fall into that latter category if not into the former.)

In many ways, I fit the profile of the average Runner's World reader. I am white, I am educated, I am married, I am employed. Like 50% of readers, I am a female. I mostly read running blogs by other white females. Most of them are married or in long term relationships with men. Many of them have children. Let me state that there is nothing wrong with that.

But neither is there is anything wrong with being a transgendered runner, a bisexual Jewish runner, or a black runner. I do know some gay runners who don't have blogs. The problem is that I can't seem to find many runners who fit those descriptions in the running blogging community. Cursory google searches for black women running bloggers, vegetarian chicana bloggers, radical feminist runners, and gay running bloggers turn up very few hits. (Sadly, Queer Vegan Runner's blog went private at some point several months.) And while I love the bloggers I read, I would certainly not mind seeing more people of color and other kinds of diversity in my Google Reader.

A couple of decades ago women would not have made up 50% of Runner's World readers. Women did not make up 50% of runners, and I know many women whose loved ones still suggest that running long distances will make their uteruses fall out or impair their ability to have children (and probably in some people's minds their very ability to be women and to contribute to society (which pisses me off beyond belief)). So I have hope that in another couple of decades, women will have run so many miles that people will stop making comments about their reproductive abilities as if their bodies are public. I also hope that there will be more black, hispanic, and lgbt runners and that they will be visible in this great online community. I hope that there comes a day soon when children who are different are not bullied, and when there is no fear that one's sexuality might result in discrimination, harassment, or assault. Maybe even running won't be such a marker (even an accidental one) of white and cisgendered privilege.... In the meantime, I will pin my hopes on George Takei.

Why do you think the running blogging community in the US is overwhelming white and straight?  European and Latin American readers, I would love to hear your thoughts on this? I know I don't need to tell ya'll this, but please be respectful in the comments. I have zero tolerance for racism or gay bashing.