We get plenty of chances to be inspired by professional athletes. But the media can create a stereotype of what an athlete is “supposed” to be. Yet athletes come in all bodies, ages and sizes, and everybody deserves to have role models that look like them. In this series, we introduce you to inspiring athletes who live outside those stereotypes.
As Celeste Mick looked down from Mt. Kilimanjaro in Rongai Gate and saw how small the houses looked, she realized how far she had come as a hiker and how much farther she wanted to go.
[READ: Fit and Fat]
Nature Heals
As a child, Mick had been a competitive swimmer, often winning the meets she entered. She left competitive swimming behind as she entered into adulthood but still spent time in her beloved Pacific ocean, snorkeling almost every day before work.
At 27, after moving to California, Mick went through a difficult time. Feeling empty and wanting to fill a void in her life, she discovered hiking, which also fulfilled her love for being in nature. The same love that had led her to the ocean. “I am a true believer that nature heals,” Mick says.
[Read: Talking to Your Children About Racism.]
Racism in the Hiking Community
While she found nature warm and welcoming, being a fat woman of color in the hiking community was a different story. She has experienced racism out on the trails and points out that, when she started hiking in 2013, “it was really rare to see larger people hiking or even being represented in ad campaigns for activewear companies.”
That attitude almost stopped her from becoming a hiker at all. She recalls, “I used to believe that you have to look thin to be fit. That’s because the lack of representation and inclusivity in the fitness industry.”
[READ: More Protection From Weight-Based Discrimination Is Needed.]
Fat Girl for the Fit Soul
But Mick persevered, grew to love hiking and found a supportive community online. As @FatGirlForTheFitSoul on Instagram, she inspires thousands of followers with pictures of her hiking in beautiful locations in California and far beyond — like her attempt to summit Kilimanjaro, Narrows in Zion National Park and Mammoth Lake. Like about half of those who attempt the summit, she didn’t make it all the way to the top of Kilimanjaro on her first try, but she came down the mountain with her love of hiking intact.
When it comes to inclusivity, Mick notes that there’s been progress since her first forays into hiking, but she still struggles to find her size in most sports stores. And she still deals with those who judge her by her size and skin color. Mick says that she’s “glad that we live in an era where we have the tools and resources to educate others about racism and fatphobia. We still have a long way to go.”
Her hope is for the hiking community to celebrate differences instead of creating division, with hikers committing to supporting each other and making newcomers feel welcome and included. And she hopes that more “non-traditional” hikers will share their pictures and stories to create greater representation, so that others like her don’t get the mistaken message that hiking isn’t for them. She is part of the Fat Girls Hiking Community, which she explains, “taught me how important it is to find your own group, to be supportive and never leave anybody behind.”
Now 34, Mick has set some serious goals for herself, including traveling to Atlanta to do her first 5k and hiking in each of the 50 states. So far she’s got eight states in the West done, with plans to move onto the Midwest this summer. She also wants to return to Mt. Kilimanjaro — and conquer it. She gets mileage in every weekend and takes a road trip at least once a month to places like Sequoias National Park to give herself more of a challenge. “We all deserve to be out there exploring if we want. The mountains do not judge, and that’s why I love visiting them so often,” Mick says.
Mick’s advice? “Don’t wait to be a certain size to do something you like. Being active and outdoorsy doesn’t only come in one size. You deserve all the love and happiness, and sometimes we have to be brave and find it ourselves.”
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Breaking Stereotypes While Climbing Mountains originally appeared on usnews.com
