Team Ultra Black hits the ground running, building community for Black runners in Hamilton

Zuhra Jibril · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 16, 2025 11:50 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Marchio Whyte wasn't ever a runner but erstwhile the satellite unopen down during the COVID-19 pandemic, helium took up the athletics arsenic a mode to enactment active. 

Whyte looks similar he's been moving for years. He's dressed successful a agleam greenish Puma windbreaker that reads 'RUNTOMTL' — a 650 kilometre relay contention from Toronto to Montreal. But for the 33-year-old Brantford, Ont., resident, moving came with a learning curve. During the pandemic it became hard to enactment motivated.

"During COVID I was ever moving by myself," Whyte told CBC Hamilton. "When you're by yourself it benignant of sucks. You tally amended erstwhile you're with a community," said Whyte.

In the summertime of 2024, Whyte acceptable retired to find a moving community. There are many. According to a 2024 study released by Strava, determination was a 59 per cent summation successful moving nine information worldwide past year.

Whyte found Ultra Black Wellness Society, a wellness and fittingness radical focused connected empowering the Black community.

The non-profit launched in January 2024. Its tally clubs began successful May that year.

Whyte learned that the tally clubs met Tuesday evenings successful downtown Toronto and Mississauga — not an casual commute for the Brantford resident. 

"I ended up joining the Saturday greeting tally successful Mississauga …. I'd aftermath up astatine 6 a.m. successful the greeting and spell tally with them," said Whyte.

Hamilton section launched successful April

Whyte became the pb runner for the Mississauga nine and soon realized determination were others making the travel successful from Hamilton. 

That's erstwhile Whyte realized determination was a request for a club in Hamilton.

"When it comes to running, region running, you don't spot overmuch Black radical … truthful for me,  I conscionable wanted to truly effort and physique that assemblage and fto radical spot that we beryllium successful these spaces, too," Whyte said.

He helped motorboat Team Ultra Black Hamilton successful April. They conscionable each Tuesday astatine 7 p.m. astatine Bayfront Park.

Since the launch, the Hamilton squad has seen an outpouring of support. In the team's archetypal fewer weeks, astir 20 runners from Hamilton and surrounding areas showed up.

Since then, astir 10 to 12 dedicated runners person shown up consistently each Tuesday.

"We trusted him [Whyte] and due to the fact that we had radical asking us, similar travel to Hamilton, it conscionable made sense," said Diana Anyim, president of Ultra Black Wellness Society.

Anyim is simply a runner based successful Toronto. She organizes events for Ultra Black Wellness Society and oversees the 3 tally clubs successful Toronto, Mississauga and Hamilton.

There person been a fewer akin initiatives successful Hamilton successful caller years. The Air Up There Run Crew started a nine for racialized runners but stopped their regular runs successful 2023. Steeltown Athletic Club, oregon STAC Hamilton, runs a fig of diversion programs for equity-deserving communities successful the city, including a way programme for BIPOC youth. 

Team Ultra Black is different. While it is simply a abstraction to tally with community, it besides focuses connected wide wellness specifically for Black people.

"We're not conscionable a tally club. We bash connection events and socials and wellness sessions," said Anyim.

She says the organization's purpose is to commencement a bigger speech astir some intelligence and carnal wellness successful the Black community.

'Nice to beryllium astir radical you tin subordinate to,' runner says

For 1 member, the unfastened conversations surrounding intelligence wellness is what inspired her to join.

On a damp Tuesday evening successful May, Team Ultra Black Hamilton met up for a 5 km run. Jade Addai was the archetypal to amusement up.

As Addai kept up a speedy gait astir the waterfront, she told CBC Hamilton however she became portion of the group. 

"The archetypal lawsuit I deliberation I went to was earlier this year. They did a sheet speech connected conscionable similar wellness and wellness and intelligence health," said Addai.

Just similar Whyte, having a squad based successful Hamilton was much convenient for the Burlington, Ont., resident.

Since joining the club, Addai has been a accordant member. She grew up successful Saskatchewan and felt it was important to find spaces wherever she could spot radical that looked similar her.

"It's conscionable bully to beryllium astir radical you tin subordinate to," Addai said.

Team Ultra Black Hamilton is conscionable the archetypal radical to grow extracurricular the Greater Toronto Area but the aboriginal goal is to instrumentality the enactment nationwide.

"Although we person created this community, we besides privation it to beryllium a web for everyone wherever we each tin stock and each instrumentality what we request from Ultra Black," said Anyim.

For much stories astir the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to occurrence stories wrong the Black assemblage — cheque out Being Black successful Canada, a CBC task Black Canadians tin beryllium arrogant of. You tin work much stories here.