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When Latoya Shauntay Snell hit rock bottom, she couldn\u2019t run a mile. Then, on a whim, she entered a half marathon. Now she’s competing in ultras and inspiring others. Her journey is the latest in our Huck x\u00a0HOKA series, looking at mavericks who found a new perspective through running.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Growing up in Brooklyn in the 1980s, long before it was gentrified, running for fun was not something Latoya Shauntay Snell would have ever thought to do. \u201cI only ran for ice-cream trucks,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIf you were running around the projects at that time, people would instantly start running with you because they would be like, \u2018Who got shot?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n There was an athletics track near where she lived but it had been trashed and remained closed for years. When it eventually reopened, Latoya remembers being excited that she could go there. But she only ever walked around the track, never ran.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you were running around the projects at that time, people would instantly start running with you because they would be like, \u2018Who got shot?\u2019\u201d Latoya Shauntay Snell<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Running just wasn\u2019t something people like her did, she says. \u201cAs an African-American, the term we would use is: \u2018This is white people shit.\u2019 This is not something that black people do. They don\u2019t go out there and run.\u201d<\/p>\n Fast-forward to today and Latoya, now 32, averages 25-60 miles a week depending on what she\u2019s training for. She\u2019s run over 80 races, including two ultramarathons, and finisher medals adorn her walls. But what makes this shift even more impressive is the fact that Latoya is a proud plus-sized runner or, as she would say on her popular food and running blog\u00a0Running Fat Chef<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019m fit. I\u2019m fat. I\u2019m an athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n It was actually Latoya\u2019s weight that led her to take up running in the first place. In 2012, at a time where she weighed over 120 kg (almost 19 stone), she was diagnosed with \u201ca laundry list\u201d of health problems relating to her weight including sciatica, a herniated disc, and sharp headaches. Her doctor said: \u201cYou have to lose this weight or you\u2019re going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n So she started to work out, gently at first \u2013 with callisthenics \u2013 but then, in late 2013, she went to the track. \u201cI kept seeing this guy with headphones dancing on the track, jogging around and sometimes going backwards. He had these phenomenal legs\u2026\u201d she laughs. \u201cBut more than anything I wanted his happiness. He didn\u2019t care if people were looking at him. I think that was the bug that put it in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n Then an old friend posted on Facebook that he was signing up for a half marathon, prompting Latoya to sign up too.<\/p>\n \u201cI hit the button and then I freaked out a little as I\u2019d never even run a mile, let alone a half marathon! But I thought I\u2019ll just make it a bucket list-type thing, a one-off.\u201d<\/p>\n She had no shoes or running kit and, when she tried to run, \u201cit felt like crap because I didn\u2019t even know how to breathe.\u201d But at the track she met a group called Black Girls Run. \u201cI\u2019m a serious New York sceptic, and anybody that comes up to me I\u2019m like: \u2018What\u2019s your agenda?\u2019 but it was completely free,\u201d she says, \u201cand they were just a super-friendly sisterhood so I joined them.\u201d<\/p>\n Once she\u2019d done the \u201chalf\u201d, a friend from Black Girls Run encouraged her to sign up for a full marathon. Latoya laughed, thinking it would take six to seven hours, but the friend said: \u201cSpeed is not important, you have the heart for it. And since then I\u2019ve realised anything beyond a half marathon is a mental thing. I\u2019ve learnt to tell myself stories and jokes. I hear soundtracks in my head\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n A happy back-of-the-pack runner, she\u2019s since competed in two ultra marathons and has signed up for another this year. Latoya says running completely changed her as a person. She realised she was capable of doing anything but also that this was about more than the weight loss. She took on other challenges she\u2019d never have contemplated before including skydiving, and she\u2019s now even training for a triathlon despite a \u201cserious and crippling fear of swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI kept seeing this guy with headphones dancing on the track, jogging around and sometimes going backwards. He had these phenomenal legs\u2026 But more than anything I wanted his happiness. He didn\u2019t care if people were looking at him. I think that was the bug that put it in my head.\u201d Latoya Shauntay Snell<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n But it hasn\u2019t all been positive vibes. She\u2019s been heckled at races and repeatedly trolled online. \u201cI\u2019ve been called everything from the n-word to just having random people be offended by the fact I was running. \u2018Concerned Trolls\u2019 I call them. They say: \u2018If you have that much weight, you shouldn\u2019t be running. What about your knees?\u2019 It\u2019s like: \u2018Ok, how shall I lose weight? Or should I sit at home and eat bonbons and perpetuate the stereotype!?\u2019 Or they even say: \u2018If you do all that, why are you still fat?\u2019 Luckily, I have a very thick skin now and I enjoy what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Latoya reminds herself that very few of these trolls have likely ran an ultra marathon. Instead she focuses on the many messages she gets saying how inspiring it is to hear her story and see her body-positive pictures online at her blog\u00a0Running Fat Chef<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not trying to be this poster girl,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can do anything here and running might not be for everyone, but for me it was like my gateway drug. I had a metamorphosis and suddenly I was doing things I\u2019d have never considered before like learning to swim or skydive. I got over my fear of travelling to other states; I\u2019ve since entered races all over the country. Running changed everything for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Huck is a youth culture channel. It celebrates and explores independent culture \u2014 people and movements that paddle against the flow.\u00a0Find out more about\u00a0HUCK<\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nPlus-sized runner and proud<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nTicking it off the bucket list<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nCapable of anything<\/h3>\n
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