Grounded by Legacy

MEET DINÉE DORAME, THE ONE-WOMAN HOST, CREATOR AND PRODUCER OF THE GROUNDED PODCAST, ON THE INTERSECTION OF RUNNING, CULTURE, LAND AND COMMUNITY.

- Emma Zimmerman

In Dinée Dorame’s favorite childhood memories, she is sitting in the stands at a high-school basketball game with a video camera in her hands. Or, she is filling water bottles at half-time. Or, she is standing on the infield of a track, the New Mexico sun beating down on her legs and her father beside her. No matter the backdrop, some elements remain the same: sports, her family and New Mexico.

It would be easy to peg Dorame as a newcomer in the running industry. After all, it was only recently, in November of 2020, that she received a Tracksmith Fellowship with funding to launch the Grounded Podcast. To many runners, the theme of this podcast—the intersection of running, culture, land, and community—is unique in the world of sports media. Plus, the majority of Dorame’s guests are Indigenous, an unprecedented focus in the running podcast realm. But to Dorame, this work is much more longstanding; Grounded is her legacy.

A citizen of the Navajo Nation, Dorame, 28, was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico—a metropolitan area that she is quick to identify as Tiwa ancestral lands. Dorame’s father serves as the athletic director, as well as head coach of both the state championship girls’ track team and 400-plus-game-winning girls’ basketball team, at Albuquerque High School. Her father’s career was never a solitary pursuit, but rather, a chance to include his family and pass important values on to his daughters. Hence, the many hours Dorame spent court- and trackside, shadowing her father as early as kindergarten.

“My family has always blended athletic legacy with cultural values,” Dorame reflects. “My parents taught us to live those core values.” Thus, as early as high school, running served as a connector; it was a way to honor her culture, family and community.