Cal Calamia MFA ’23 Stays Full Speed Ahead

San Francisco’s Cal Calamia is leading the way on the marathon race course and advocating for positive change off of it.

On April 27, Calamia added a category win at the 2025 TCS London Marathon to their growing list of accolades. A time of 2:46:44 placed them in the top 2% of all mass entrants at one of the six World Marathon Majors, after finishing first in the Non-Binary category at the Tokyo Marathon in March 2025.

Calamia’s performances are special. Yes, they are setting the pace in their athletic field, but, for years, they’ve also been a leading voice in the push for inclusion and recognition of the non-binary category by race organizers the world over.

“There is not a lot of firsthand information coming from trans athletes themselves,” said Calamia. “The easiest way to get informed about any issue is to listen to the stories and experiences of people who are living it. 

“That is my approach — telling stories, being vulnerable, being transparent, and hoping that people can be open."

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Through that exchange, there can be a mounting of empathy that essentially transforms how we think about the issues that we're presented with in our day-to-day life.”

In addition to being a world-class athlete, Calamia is a scholar and published poet. They graduated from USF with a Master of Fine Arts in Writing in 2023, and taught at USF as an adjunct professor. 

“When it comes to trans athletes in sports, it's framed as this issue that's, in reality, sort of a non-issue,” said Calamia. “Education is so essential in inclusivity. Extending that desire to learn more about people, to listen more — that is the central practice of being at a higher academic institution. Applying that in all situations, that's the key to building a more inclusive, empathetic, and better world.”

They credit USF with providing allyship which, coming from an entity larger than themselves, helps disseminate an attitude of inclusivity amongst the wider community. 

“I have noticed that what is so transformative about higher education isn't learning from a book, but being in a space, collaborating with different people with unique identities. It is sociologically proven to be the number one way to reduce in-group, out-group biases.”

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San Francisco is Calamia’s adopted home outside of their globetrotting race schedule. They view the city as a pioneer in social change and social inclusion, and credit their community in San Francisco with helping them continue to run after they transitioned. 

“My community here gave me the confidence and the support to start pushing on local races, at first Bay To Breakers, to be more inclusive,” said Calamia. “That shifted my career at large, and I realized how much impact I could have, not just in the national context, but the global context, to make races more inclusive for trans and non-binary athletes.”

Calamia is a global athlete ambassador for Hoka, a major shoe brand, which they credit with providing additional support and upliftment from a well-known entity. They also founded a nonprofit called 2 Hot For Hoodies that provides life-saving resources, education, and a celebratory community beyond the gender binary. Last but not least, Calamia founded and operates a popular run club organization called Non-Binary+ Run Club. 

“There's a huge gap between trans folks, gender expansive folks, and the rest of the world in terms of community access to physical movement and all the benefits of healthy activity — both mental and physical. If I felt that I had all these barriers to access for myself, then there must be so many other people that feel similarly. Our community has grown, since 2022, from like 10 people in the Panhandle to a global community.” 

Calamia said that being part of the USF community as a student, teacher, and graduate helps them feel extra tethered to San Francisco and extra proud of living here.

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