Erika Kemp
Photo Credit: Justin Britton
Erika Kemp was born in Okinawa, Japan, on a U.S. air base, and grew up in Mount Holly, New Jersey. While she grew up playing a variety of other sports, she didn’t start running until her freshman year of high school, when she joined her school’s track team.
Kemp went on to attend North Carolina State University, where she competed under renowned coach Laurie Henes, who she credits with helping to set the stage for her future success in the sport. She then went on to sign with the Boston Athletic Association’s High-Performance Team, which she trained with until the end of 2022.
While training with the BAA, Kemp initially specialized in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters on the track before moving up to longer distances on the road, winning national titles in the 15K in 2019 and in the 20K in 2021.
“One of the coolest parts about running post-collegiately has been seeing what the sport can do for people, like going to road races and just seeing all these different communities coming together on a random Saturday morning to run a 5K or 10K,” Kemp says. “Seeing all these people in their front yard cheering opened up this whole new world [for me].”
Photo credit: Gavin Doremus/Brooks Running
Kemp recently made her move up the marathon, running 2:33:57 in her debut at the 2023 Boston Marathon. Her time made her the fastest Black American female marathoner in history, a title that was previously held by Samia Akbar since 2006, on a list of only 30 Black women who have broken the three-hour barrier.
“I knew it was going to be a tall order, and I had no idea what to expect with Boston on the day – I was looking forward to just being on the List,” she says. “After I finished, it took some time before it really sunk in.”
Kemp now runs for Brooks under coach Kurt Benninger in Providence, Rhode Island. Her current coaching situation is fairly new, as she just made the move to Providence from her former home base of Boston. In her new arrangement, Kemp will be training with Olympians Marielle Hall and Molly Huddle as they all build toward the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials, and Kemp anticipates working with Hall to bring down her time from the List along the way.
“If everything goes according to plan, we will have a great summer here in Providence, and hopefully, things work out and [Hall] will get to run [a marathon] before the Trials,” Kemp says.
Note about the author: Emilia Benton is a freelance journalist who contributes regularly to Runner’s World, Women’s Running, SELF, the Houston Chronicle, and more. Emilia is also a 12-time marathoner and USATF Level 1 running coach. She lives in her hometown of Houston with her husband, Omar, and Boston Terrier rescue, Astro. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter @emiliambenton.
