Author Profile

Alison Mariella DésirOn-Air Host

Alison Mariella Désir, is a professional runner, writer, and speaker who has made a big impact in the outdoor space. Her experience as an endurance athlete has led her to look deeper into community, activism, and advocacy. She is the author of Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport That Wasn't Built for Us and the host of Out & Back with Alison Mariella Désir.

Recent Work

Jas Maisonet and Alison Mariella Désir high five atop a boulder in Magnuson Park

Equity

Out & Back: Outdoor solace for Seattle's queer people of color

A love of the outdoors and a longing for community are the founding principles of Jas Maisonet's QPOC Hikers.

Alison Mariella Désir

/ December 30, 2022

Host Alison Mariella Desir tends to the crops at Yes Farm in Seattle.

Equity

Podcast | Inside the urban farm with a historic mission

Agriculture is a fraught industry for descendants of enslaved people. Yes Farm is working to move beyond that trauma.

/ December 27, 2022

Ray Williams and Alison Mariella Désir in conversation

Equity

Out & Back: Yes Farm helps Black Seattleites reconnect with land

The Black Farmers Collective seeks to reconcile a violent past with a hopeful future at their Yesler Terrace urban farm.

Alison Mariella Désir

/ December 23, 2022

Alison wearing sunglasses and a bike helmet

Equity

Podcast | How a bike ride became a movement

Doc Wilson's Peace Peloton started in Seattle as a single protest ride in 2020. Now it fights for social justice nationwide.

/ December 20, 2022

Alison Mariella Désir and Doc Wilson in conversation

Equity

Out & Back: Pedaling for change with cyclist Doc Wilson

Alison Mariella Désir rides through Seattle with the founder of Peace Peloton, an organization that promotes cycling as a tool of social justice for Black communities.

Alison Mariella Désir

/ December 16, 2022

A group of club members smile in front of Estelita's library

Equity

Podcast | The run club changing Seattle

Club Seattle Runners Division creates community for people of all paces and all faces.

/ December 13, 2022

Ashley Davies, David Jaewon Oh and Alison Mariella Desir sit in conversation

Equity

Out & Back: Walking through time in Seattle's Central District

A Juneteenth outing with Club Seattle Runners Division and Wa Na Wari art center sheds light on the neighborhood's history and future.

Alison Mariella Désir

/ December 9, 2022

Inside Crosscut

Why access to the outdoors has never been equitable

Our new video and podcast series 'Out & Back' focuses on people of color who are challenging the exclusionary and violent history of outdoor spaces.

Alison Mariella Désir

/ December 8, 2022

Equity

Podcast | How getting outside changed Alison Mariella Désir’s life

The Out & Back host tells the story of how she rediscovered running in Harlem before she and her family moved to the PNW.

/ December 6, 2022

Equity

Out & Back: Activist Alison Mariella Désir finds her PNW community

The runner and former Bronxite journeys west and connects with BIPOC who are reclaiming outdoor spaces.

Alison Mariella Désir

/ December 2, 2022