As part of the program allowing Boston residents to access the marathon

Running became a way of life for Akeem Lloyd in high school, but he never dreamed of running the Boston Marathon while growing up in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Lloyd was more focused on basketball at the time. His introduction to running came when a friend asked him to try out for the cross country team. He showed up in full basketball gear, wearing shorts, sneakers and a headband.

“I remember coach looked at me and asked, ‘Are you sure you’re at the right practice?’” Lloyd said. “I thought it was funny. I said yes. He showed me the course and the competitor in me ran that course, raced against my teammates, and I came in first. At that point, my coach told me, “If you stay with me, I’ll help you get into college.” »

The coach kept his promise. Lloyd worked collegiately at Rutgers University in Camden and became the first person in his immediate family to earn a bachelor’s degree. He later earned a master’s degree from Temple University.

Knee pain kept Lloyd from running for more than a decade after his college career. Eventually, he took up yoga and was able to heal his injuries. He started running again, and when he moved to Boston last summer, he contacted a friend who put him in touch with the local chapter of a running club called Black Men Run.

On Monday, Lloyd will be one of 30 runners running the Boston Marathon as part of Boston’s Marathoners program, which aims to create a diverse running community in Boston.

The program brings together runners from diverse backgrounds from across the city and works with clubs such as Black Men Run, Pioneers Run Crew, TrailblazHers Run Crew, among others.

“One of the things we had talked about as a collaborative before we even officially became the Boston Running Collaborative is that there isn’t a lot of diverse representation in the marathon,” said Suzanne Walmsley, director of the BAA community engagement. “It’s on a global scale. When you look at the statistics on marathon runners, you just don’t see a very diverse crowd. We really wanted to understand why. Why don’t people run?

“So basically there were a number of barriers to entry that were identified by the group and by those who looked at the marathon and thought it was something we could help with.”

One of the two main issues that caught the group’s attention was the lack of representation and visibility of the sport within various communities.

“Before Black Men Run, I never saw myself running a marathon,” said Lloyd, who started a nonprofit called “A Leadership Journey” aimed at providing access to travel to teens from diverse backgrounds. “I never thought about running a marathon. Even in the beginning, when I was just trying to get my life back and heal my body, I was focused on that… now I have the opportunity to be a part of this historic race and share with my students and young people this I serve.”

The other problem is access. The Boston Marathon is one of the only marathons that has a qualifying time and fundraising requirement associated with it, Walmsley said.

These requirements have been waived for participants in this program to encourage more people to participate in the race.

Nominees are selected from a pool of applicants by a committee of the Boston Running Collaborative. The program started with nine runners last year and has expanded to 30 this year.

“I’ve lived in Boston my whole life. It’s something I’ve seen year after year,” said runner Douglas Alvarado. “It means everything to me. Not everyone has the opportunity to do this. I know a lot of people who would love to run the Boston Marathon, but they just don’t have the chance. An opportunity like this is one that I do not take lightly.

Alvarado is an East Boston native whose parents left El Salvador in the early 2000s. He ran cross country at Charlestown High and Bridgewater State. He is currently a student at Boston University pursuing a master’s degree in biotechnology and dreams of attending medical school after graduation.

The main reason he wants to become a doctor, he says, is to become a representation he doesn’t see in the medical field. He wants to serve his local community and inspire others of Hispanic descent to pursue a career in medicine.

He said the physical discipline of running helped him develop the resilience to pursue his dreams.

“I think running is pretty unique. It’s really like life,” Alverado said. “You have to be disciplined to progress. You must be willing to endure pain and suffering to win your race and compete. More than anything, you need to be resilient, no matter what background you come from.

According to TrailblazHers Run Co., one of the local Black-led running groups, there is still work to be done to make running more inclusive. On Friday, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the group against the BAA and Newton police, alleging racial profiling during the 2023 race.

The alleged discrimination stems from police interaction with members of the group who were cheering on other runners. A member of the Pioneers Run Crew said members occasionally jumped on the course to cheer. It is racing policy that spectators do not enter the course.

Liz Rock, co-founder of TrailblazHers, said in a statement that she was “deeply disappointed by the lack of attention the BAA has given to our cause. Over the years, we have worked tirelessly to make running more accessible to BIPOC runners in Boston, and we expected the BAA to be a partner in this endeavor. However, their actions do not match their words. »

In its own statement responding to the lawsuit, a BAA spokesperson said: “We are focused on creating a joyful experience for everyone. Although the BAA is aware of the complaint, we have not yet had the opportunity to review it.

Running the Boston Marathon is a feeling more Bostonians should have the opportunity to experience, Walmsley said.

“When people set the marathon as a goal and they complete it, there is such a feeling of accomplishment that comes with that,” Walmsley said. “It spills over into other things in their lives.” I’ve seen it over the years, and I know firsthand, from running, that once you tackle something like that, anything seems possible.

“We really want to give this opportunity to as many people as possible,” she added. “So if there are ways to address some of the things that prevent people from accessing this information, we definitely want to do that.”