Cal Calamia
| Sport | |
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| Sport | Running |
Cal Calamia is a non-binary transmasculine Running (sport), sports activist, poet, and educator.[1] was born in 1996.[2] Calamia was the first winner of the non-binary division of the San Francisco Marathon and has been an advocate for transgender and non-binary runners since 2022.[3]
Running career and activism
Calamia competed in Cross country running both in high school in Grayslake, Illinois and in college at Saint Louis University in Missouri.[4] He then began a gender transition and became an advocate for more visibility and inclusion for transgender and non-binary runners, beginning with San Francisco's Bay to Breakers race in 2022.[3][5] Calamia's activism has led to more races adding non-binary divisions and equitably recognizing non-binary participants' achievements, and he is an outspoken advocate for the addition of non-binary categories in the World Marathon Majors.[6][7]
Calamia has received significant press coverage, being featured in The New York Times,[8] PinkNews, The Advocate (LGBT magazine), and Like the Wind magazine, as well as local news in San Francisco.[9] He is involved in the conversation about the inclusion of trans and non-binary athletes in sports, and might be described as debunking myths about athleticism by running a sub 3-hour marathon, effectively qualifying for the Boston Marathon against all three gender standards (men, women, and non-binary).[10][11]
In December 2022, Calamia founded the first ever non-binary run club, called nbrc; the club meets for regular runs in the Bay Area.[12][13]
Athletic achievements
In May 2022, Calamia became the first ever non-binary winner of Bay to Breakers in San Francisco.[9] In July 2022, he became the first ever non-binary winner of the San Francisco Marathon.[14] In October 2022, he placed second in the non-binary category at the Chicago Marathon.[15]
Activism
Calamia is known for his role in increasing the inclusivity of trans and non-binary runners in trail and road races. He began pushing back against Bay to Breakers in May 2022. Initially, the historic race did not have plans to award non-binary competitors for their achievements, but Calamia rallied his local and online community to garner press coverage and change the race's award structure just one day before the race.[3][5]
He has continued working with other races, both local and international, to provide advice, consulting support, and dialogue with organizers as they roll out non-binary categories, including the San Francisco Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, and the Boston Marathon.[16]
Gender transition
Calamia felt discomfort with his gender from a young age, but did not have the resources or education to transition until adulthood. At age 22, Calamia began taking testosterone and had chest masculinization surgery, at which point he began to identify as non-binary transmasculine and used he/him and they/them preferred pronoun.[1]
Education and poetry
In addition to running and sports activism, Calamia is a public school teacher and the author of a poetry collection called San Franshitshow.[1][17]
Calamia performs at Bay Area poetry readings.[18] His debut collection San Franshitshow was published in 2021 by Nomadic Press.[17]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "A Gender-Expansive Runners Story: Cal Calamia". The San Francisco Marathon. 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
- ↑ "Quotation of the Day: A Nonbinary Marathoner Finally Feels at Home". The New York Times. 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Races Are Finally Making Room for Nonbinary Runners, Whose Stories Are Driving the Change". Them. 2022-08-09. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
- ↑ "Callie Calamia - 2016-17 - Track & Field". Saint Louis University. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ravani, Sarah (2022-05-13). "Will Bay to Breakers recognize nonbinary runners? S.F. athlete pushes local races to join national trend". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
- ↑ Minsberg, Talya (2022-09-14). "How Nonbinary Runners are Winning Inclusion in Major Marathons". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-12-17. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
- ↑ Kelleher, Patrick (2022-05-29). "Non-binary runner taking fight for equality in athletics worldwide after historic win". PinkNews. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
- ↑ Streeter, Kurt; Glascock, Taylor (2022-10-12). "In a New Nonbinary Category, One Marathoner Finally Feels at Home". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-12-17. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Fortson, Jobina (2022-05-18). "1st non-binary San Francisco Bay to Breakers winner won more than just the race". ABC 7 News. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
- ↑ "Chicago Marathon 2022 - Results - Cal Calamaria".
- ↑ https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/qualify
- ↑ http://calcalamia.com/about
- ↑ http://calcalamia.com/nbrc
- ↑ Zucker, Joseph. "San Francisco Marathon Results 2022: Men's and Women's Top Finishers". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
- ↑ "Chicago Marathon: On a perfect race day, runners applaud addition of nonbinary division, say more needs to be done". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
- ↑ "Races Are Finally Making Room for Nonbinary Runners, Whose Stories Are Driving the Change". Them. 2022-08-09. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Odom, J. L. (2022-09-16). "'Call me they': SF Marathon nonbinary winner Cal Calamia reflects on their first poetry collection". Local News Matters. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
- ↑ "Cal Calamia (San Franshitshow) and Caroline M. Mar (Special Education)". Passage. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
External links
This article "Cal Calamia" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.