Virginia Camacho and Priscilla Rojas became running buddies about a decade ago. They didn’t see many women like them at races, and they began to dream — “imagine if we had a really big crew,” Rojas said.
“We didn’t see Black and brown people in the running spaces we were looking at,” Camacho said. “And we tried really hard to look at all of them.”
This was surprising, Rojas said, because San Diego has a huge Latino community. They wanted to see people like them enjoying the sport of running.
But there were barriers to existing running clubs, Camacho said: They were for already fast runners, cost money or most of the members were white.
The pair were searching for something accessible to everyone — free to join, with all shapes, sizes and colors present.
“We wanted a place that we could feel comfortable convincing people to run,” she said. “A place that we know that our family and our friends would feel comfortable coming to without judgment.”
They couldn’t find it. So in 2020, they created it: Santa Mujeres Running Club.
The representation opened the gates for hundreds of new runners to come sprinting in.
Including Elzbeth Ruiz, who two years ago joined a friend who didn’t want to try the running club alone.
“That was the first time I ever ran,” Ruiz said. “I introduced myself as: ‘My name is Elzbeth and I’m not a runner.’ And I’ve been coming ever since.”
Last year alone, she added 24 medals from running events to a growing wall, 12 from half marathons. She said running has helped her develop new confidence. Her daughter joined, too.
Rojas said many beginners have told her: “I wouldn’t have started running if I didn’t see someone that looked like me, had the same energy as me. You can just show up as who you are.”
The space is inclusive to everyone — sons and husbands often join — but they want to empower women of color to continue to lead the club.
The group runs every Thursday evening in Balboa Park and every second Saturday in Barrio Logan.
No one gets left behind. Even the slowest runner — or walker — has a buddy with them until they’re familiar with the route.
They aim to take the fear out of running and replace it with joy, evident in the constant laughter when they gather.
There are currently 322 registered and consistent members, Rojas said. Over the years, more than 500 have come to join the runs.
Those numbers provide not just comfort, but safety, Rojas said.
“Every woman in our run club has experienced something, like either being honked at, harassed, followed. Like all of us,” she said, pointing to news stories of women assaulted or killed while running, like Chelsea King, or Laken Hope Riley just days ago. “So I think having this community has made it safer for us to go out and run and not feel so scared.”
The club also began providing shoes and running merchandise to the community, Camacho said. They dream of covering race registrations for runners who can’t afford it.
Camacho grew up in Barrio Logan, and sees the run club as part of its larger revival. They enjoy taking up outdoor space where she said it hasn't always been safe.
“Probably the last 10 to 15 years, this neighborhood has really just sparked anew, and we’re really happy to be here,” she said.
Santa Mujeres Running Club is eyeing a new finish line: nonprofit status.
