Professional runner Erika Kemps goal at this years Boston Marathon was simple: to finish running 26.2 miles and be OK. But when she crossed the finish line, the 28-year-old broke the record as the fastest debut marathon for a Black American female runner, topping an exclusive list to break the three-hour barrier.

You can finish it. Its going to get really hard and feel really long but think of all the work you put in prior, Kemp remembers telling herself throughout the race.

The New Jersey native began running at 14 when her soccer coach, who was also the track coach, begged her to try long-distance running, she recalled. She hated it at first, but found success fairly quickly and then fell in love with the sport. It opened several unexpected doors for her including the opportunity to travel in college.

Tackling a marathon was Kemps next big challenge, a natural progression after she had excelled at multiple shorter races, including several half marathons. A full marathon, however, was a completely different beast for her.

Elite long-distance running in the U.S. historically has been dominated by white runners, in no small part due to systemic racism and socioeconomic barriers to Black runners competing. Black Americans, Im told by some of Kemps peers, often face the assumption that they are more likely to excel at shorter distances. But Kemp is changing that, and her influence is already palpable.

We saw the elite runners coming up and said, We gotta turn them up! Give them that push! but when we saw her, we just lost it, said Anthony Rock Clary, co-founder of We Off the Couch, a Black-led running community in Richmond, Virginia. He was at the Boston Marathons Brooks Running cheer station when he saw Kemp at mile 15.

We are just screaming for her because we know she needs it. In those moments, we are yelling, We see you, sis! Keep going! You got everything you need tucked down on the inside! Clary remembers thinking, If I lose my voice today, I will lose it for something that absolutely matters.

Clary said that in a sport initially created for white men , seeing a Black woman run down that prestigious course as an elite athlete made an impact on his life and his family. My daughters can do this too, he thought.