Thai Richards is creating a new kind of running community with a radical mission: to destigmatize the way we think about weed and wellness
was given a 30-day suspension following a positive test for THC at the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she had won the 100m in 10.86 seconds. It cost her the chance to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, eliciting a cacophony of support and derision from the public.
Cultural whiplash—again. After six years of learning to fit into a mostly white community, Thai had to relearn how to fit into a Black one. “When I come back to the hood, I got people telling me, you sound like a white dude,” he says. “You know what I’m sayin’?” New York has a long and largely untold history with cannabis. It was decriminalized in 1977, but that never meant it was legal; it simply meant that having a little weed wouldn’t result in jail time, at least not until the third offense. But you could still get arrested, and the arrests almost always fell along racial lines.
Thai’s pulse was steady. Standard procedure. He’d been pushing weight for a few years, always as a middleman between a supplier and street dealers. He’d been in lots of empty hallways with strangers, exchanged many bundles of cash for weed. He rarely felt intimidated. He had six inches, at least, on most other guys, and if he had to, he knew he could outrun just about anyone.
Between modeling, catering, and security, Thai was making good money, and it was all legit. But he still didn’t have the paperwork to get a place. Most landlords in New York City require proof that an apartment applicant earns an annual salary 40 times the monthly rent, has a credit score of at least 700, and can provide multiple pay stubs proving steady, full-time employment. Thai had the income, but nothing else. “You don’t get taught financial literacy in the hood,” he says.
Kenny had come to New York from Virginia two years prior for a three-day visit and never left. She met Thai through running, which she took up after she moved to the city. “I always used to say I’d only run if I was being chased,” she jokes. The vibe at a Rage run is chill. As the runners wait on street corners for lights to change, a few will take turns doing pullups on a walk sign. Thai might do a set and then drop to the pavement for some curbside pushups. Along the way, he’ll retrieve a long, fat joint from behind his ear, and flick a lighter. He’ll take a pull and resume running.
At one Bang Bang last October, two Brooklyn-based chefs, Toya Henry and Rachel Laryea, prepared a six-course meal combining elements of Caribbean and Southeast Asian cooking, with dishes like turnip carpaccio and pickled breadfruit. Thai says he hopes the Bang Bangs will inspire deeper, more intentional engagement with food—not unlike his approach to cannabis. “Consumption is what humans do: consume, consume, consume, consume,” he says.
We talked about declarations of “supporting the community” that have become the fashion in corporate messaging today, about how a lot of it is just opportunistic woke-washing. He told me about a situation where a major brand had asked to partner with Rage & Release on an event and then reneged at the last minute, leaving Thai to cover the $9,500 fee for the space alone. There was no way he could afford it. He didn’t seem angry; he didn’t even seem surprised.
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