Grace Gonzales is one of the founding members of Angel City Elite which is a women’s distance running team based in Los Angeles. The group and it’s mission were set in motion after the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials and then accelerated after the events that sparked the social justice movement later that year. Reflecting together, each member mutually agreed on feeling little resemblence of self within the running community and wanted to create a shift of awareness and inclusion. Running has long represented opportunity, connection, vitality, and growth and the thought that members of any community would feel barred from experiencing all that this sport has to offer in unjustifiable. Angel City Elite came into motion as a collaborative effort of female elite runners looking to make a statement of representation in the running community while chasing both their athletic and personal potentials.

Grace ran at the Olympic Trials in 2020. She has a 2:41:56 marathon PR. When we had this conversation in February, she had just raced another marathon and we talk about how that went and what that meant to her. She has also had a big job change this year!

Photo credit: Bryan Garcia

Photo from: Grace Gonzales

What we talked about:

5:20- Introduction to Grace

7:25- Grace’s running history

18:35- The Indigenious Prayer Run

23:10- Angel City Elite and their mission

35:40- Incorporating prayer and meditation into her running

39:55- The goals for Angel City Elite

43:10- Grace’s current career

50:15- Finding creativity

51:05- Looking ahead to the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials

Episode 368: Grace Gonzales – Founding Member of Angel City Elite