2025 Western States x Rising Hearts Updates!

Hello community!

Here we go, in our 4th year, we are going back to Wasiw and Nisenan lands for the 2025 Western States Endurance Run 100 miler! As we announced, we are supporting Indigenous Runner Scott Flatlip. And we are here to continue our kinship and programming at this very prestigious and exclusive event. During our time here, we are committed to always being a voice for community, and to help push this industry to ensure it is creating safe spaces, being inclusive, grow diversity, and create meaningful relations with community and brands. It’s a lot of work. It’s the heart work we see important to truly seeing ourselves in all spaces, where all bodies can be. Our work continues!

WE ARE TAKING UP SPACE TO CREATE SPACE. YEAR 4 OF COLLABORATIONS, CONSULTATIONS, EDUCATION + AWARENESS, 3 FILMS, AND HEART WORK. AND WE KEEP GOING!

This is where we will be. If you’re new, POC, 2SLGBTIA+, Non-binary, disabled body, join us! We are here to help welcome you, meet new people, and continue to grow community together!

Rising Hearts Schedule of Events:

TRAILCON

+ Wednesday 6/25 9-4pm: VENDOR VILLAGE

Visit our booth where you can meet: Rising Hearts, Non-Binary Run Club, Tierre Libre Run, and Touching Land

+ Wednesday 6/25 at 3:45pm:

Kinship Building: Running Towards Connection Panel (Broken Arrow Stage - across from CoffeeBar)

With Celia Camargo (GU, Moderator), Cal Calamia (2 Hot 4 Hoodies and Non-Binary Running Club, Jordan Whetstone (Rising Hearts), Dani Aravich (Born To Adapt), and Carolina Rubio-MacWright (Touching Land)

Learn more about other events you can join!

https://trailconference.com/

WESTERN STATES

+ 6/26 12-4pm and 6/27 9-2pm: Rising Hearts will be vendor booth sharing at the GU Energy Labs! Merch and more!

And special book signing by Jordan Whetstone, Beyond The Game: Athletes Change The World

+ 6/26 7:30AM: 4MI Shakeout Run | Coffeebar | REGISTER HERE!

Presented by HOKA - Meet at the Coffeebar for an out and back on the bike path with Hoka, GU, Ultimate Direction, Rising Hearts, Non-Binary Run Club, Tierre Libre Run and Touching Land. Rising Hearts and Cal Calamia are bringing the last day of #LetThemRun Pride 5k to this community, and will have bibs onsite to dedicate this run to celebrate Pride! You can also register, join team RISING HEARTS, where all donations and registration fees are donated to 2 Hot 4 Hoodies / Non-Binary Run Club, Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits, and No Binary No Problem!

+ 6/26 12:20PM: Kinship Building: Running Towards Connection | Main Stage

+ 6/27 10AM: Wasiw Cultural Presentation - High Camp (get your tickets for the Gondola)
+ 6/27 2PM: Runner’s Meeting

MEET SCOTT!

RISING HEARTS X WESTERN STATES RUNNER 2025, SCOTT FLATLIP

Kaheé! Awé-Kootaá-iikuash Biik. Bii-Apsaalookak. Greetings! My name is Scott Flatlip. I am born into the Ties the Bundle clan and am a child of the Bad War Deeds. I am an Apsaalooké (Crow) that grew up on the Crow reservation in the small town of Pryor. I am a husband to my wife Sloane and father to three wonderful children Hudson Mills, Madisyn Rein, and my youngest Bridger Wallace. We Currently make our home in Garryowen where the battle of the little bighorn took place.

I currently teach Health Enhancement at Hardin High School. I have been teaching at Hardin High since 2018. I also helped coach cross country, track and field, and basketball as an assistant. When I am not at school or teaching I enjoy playing with my children and spending as much time with my family as I can. Another thing I love to do is run. As an ultra-trail runner (running all distances over 26.2miles) I spend my time running on the roads, hills, and in mountains. This is a way for me to connect with the land the same way many of my Apsaalooké ancestors once did.

+What made you want to apply to run for Rising Hearts at the 2025 Western States 100?

I was asked to apply by a few friends after I did not get into the race lottery.

+What does a race like this mean to you?

Learning about Rising Hearts work with Western States, it makes me glad about the impact RH is making with this race. I am excited to get to toe the line with this race. The race is the oldest ultra in the states and the race itself has a history of lacking in BIPOC community with race and even its board.

+What ultradistances have you run (include name and distance)?

Bighorn Trail Runs (50k, 50 mile, & 100mile). Rocky Mountain Double Marathon 50k, Elk Horn 53 mile, Monument Valley 50 mile, Elder Creek 50 mile,The Hunt 50k, Sawatch 50k, West line Winder 50k, Crazy Mountain 100 mile, Cocodona 250 Mile

+What's your favorite post run snack / meal?

Anything really.

+What's your favorite race or run experience?

Favorite races were the Cocodona 250, Sawatch 50/50 (Sawatch 50k/West Line Winder 50k), Bighorn 100 mile, and Crazy Mountain 100 mile

+On a long race such as ultras, when things get hard, what are your mantas / music / or thoughts that help you push through and overcome.

- Awé-Kootaá-iikuash Biik. Bii-Apsaalookak.

+What are your goals for WS100?

To finish and push myself beyond my limits.

Rising Hearts is here for you, to cheer you on, and to support you every stride of the way!

My experience so far has been very similar to many of my past races that I've trained for. Training seems to be going well and I am excited to toe the line at Western States 100 Mile Run.

I wasn't able to go to the training camp as my job as a PE/Health teacher did not allow me to attend. Which disappointing but it’s ok. As a way to train or create my own training camps for western states 100 I’ve supplemented my training with a few races. The first one being the Spitfire 55k in Idaho. The race climbs 6000ft plus and is a 17mile loop. This race went well and I came in 4th overall. I did use GU to fuel and did have a few issues while I am still learning how to use the products. Second race I’ve done was a very runable 50k. The Rocky Mountain 50k. My race went really great here and the competition was just what I needed. I came in 3rd overall and was close to the 2nd place but just was not fit enough to finish any higher. I did PR with the 50k running my fastest at this race with my time being 4:24.59 beating my previous time by 11mins. My fueling with GU at this race went very well and I feel like I’ve figured out the issues I’ve had in the last race. I've just been training and getting ready each day the same as many other runners are doing. I do not have a lot of access to training specific terrain that we will see at western states but I've been able to train on a regular basis. My goal at western states is to finish.

2025 TRAILCON | ON

Kinship Building: Running Toward Real Connection

Panel Description:
Running communities are more than just miles—they’re spaces for belonging, growth, and reckoning. This panel explores how brands, clubs, and individuals are building true kinship through discomfort, difference, and intention. With a focus on meaningful collaboration, safe and inclusive environments, and authentic storytelling, each panelist brings a grounded, lived perspective on what it really takes to invest in community, not as a trend, but as a lasting commitment. Let’s get real, lean into the uncomfortable, and do the heart work—together.

PANELISTS:

Celia Camargo - Director of Community + Purpose, GU Energy Labs IG: @cbs517

This year marks Celia’s 10th Western States – ten years of showing up, evolving, and helping others find their place in the trail and endurance community. As the Director of Community & Purpose at GU Energy Labs, she leads GU Gives and the company’s 1% for the Planet commitment, guiding how the brand builds long-term partnerships rooted in relationships, reciprocity, and representation.

Celia’s approach to purpose work is deeply personal. With a 1.5-year-old in her arms, she sees movement, storytelling, and community through a new lens – one shaped by joy, urgency, and legacy. She believes in bringing people in, creating space for stories to be heard, and encouraging others to use their voice – because you never know who you’ll inspire to take those first steps. Steps toward healing, toward learning, toward protecting the earth for future generations.

Now in its fourth year, GU’s kinship with Rising Hearts and Running on Native Lands is one example of the kind of enduring connection Celia champions – where brands stay in the work, center community leadership, and shine the spotlight in the right direction.

She’s here to unite, uplift, and help people move – toward whatever lights them up.

Jordan Whetstone - Lakota, Rising Hearts, Athlete, Filmmaker IG: @nativein_la

Jordan Marie Whetstone, Lakota, is a fourth generation runner, athlete advocate, project manager, filmmaker, founder of Rising Hearts since 2018, and a mom to a 3 year old and 1 year old twin girls. Since the 2019 Boston Marathon, she uses her platform to help raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, for their families, survivors and advocates.

Through this platform and access to resources and brands, Jordan is committed to helping make the running and community spaces a more equitable, safe, visible, supportive, diverse, inclusive, and accessible place for people today and for the next generations through meaningful storytelling, Rising Hearts Race organizing, Running with Purpose Athlete Advocate program and Running On Native Lands programs and consultations.

Cal Calamia - 2 Hot 4 Hoodies, Non-Binary Run Club, IG: @calcalamia, www.calcalamia.com

Cal Calamia (they/he) runs far. Cal is also a trans poet, professor, inclusivity activist, and community builder. They are the author of a chapbook, San Franshitshow, which was published in 2021 by Nomadic Press and an MFA-graduate-turned-professor of Creative Writing at the University of San Francisco. Cal is committed to increasing trans visibility and uplifting queer joy, and became the first ever Transgender Trailblazer award recipient in 2024.

Carolina MacWright - '24 WSER Runner, Mom, Artist, Immigration Lawyer, Activist, Colombian, IG: @carustol, @touchinglandorg

Carolina Rubio MacWright is a Colombian-born immigrant, artist, ultrarunner/coach, lawyer, and climate activist based in the NJ/NYC area. She is dedicated to advancing immigrant and humanitarian rights through a multidisciplinary approach of ideas design that bridges art, advocacy, and movement.

Dani Aravich - Born To Adapt
Dani Aravich is a two-time Paralympian and a prominent advocate for disability inclusion in sports and media. Born without her left hand and forearm, she grew up in Boise, Idaho, and competed in non-para sports throughout her youth. She ran cross country and track at Butler University, where she majored in Marketing and Entrepreneurship.

After college, Aravich worked in professional sports, including a role with the Utah Jazz, before discovering she was eligible for Paralympic competition. She competed in the 400m T47 sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympics and later transitioned to Nordic skiing and biathlon, representing Team USA at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics. In 2025, she earned her first international podium with a bronze medal in the women's standing sprint pursuit at the IBU Para Biathlon World Cup in Torsby. She acts as the programs manager at Born to Adapt, which opens up trail racing opportunities for those with disabilities, helps advise UTMB on their disability policy, and serves on the Broken Arrow Advisory Council.

2025 WESTERN STATES 100

Celia Camargo - Director of Community + Purpose, GU Energy Labs IG: @cbs517
This year marks Celia’s 10th Western States – ten years of showing up, evolving, and helping others find their place in the trail and endurance community. As the Director of Community & Purpose at GU Energy Labs, she leads GU Gives and the company’s 1% for the Planet commitment, guiding how the brand builds long-term partnerships rooted in relationships, reciprocity, and representation.

She’s here to unite, uplift, and help people move – toward whatever lights them up.

Jordan Whetstone - Lakota, Rising Hearts, Athlete, Filmmaker IG: @nativein_la
Jordan Marie Whetstone, Lakota, is a fourth generation runner, athlete advocate, project manager, filmmaker, founder of Rising Hearts since 2018, and a mom to a 3 year old and 1 year old twin girls. Since the 2019 Boston Marathon, she uses her platform to help raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, for their families, survivors and advocates.

Cal Calamia - 2 Hot 4 Hoodies, Non-Binary Run Club, IG: @calcalamia, www.calcalamia.com
Cal Calamia (they/he) runs far. Cal is also a trans poet, professor, inclusivity activist, and community builder. They are the author of a chapbook, San Franshitshow, which was published in 2021 by Nomadic Press and an MFA-graduate-turned-professor of Creative Writing at the University of San Francisco. Cal is committed to increasing trans visibility and uplifting queer joy, and became the first ever Transgender Trailblazer award recipient in 2024.

Carolina MacWright - '24 WSER Runner, Mom, Artist, Immigration Lawyer, Activist, Colombian, IG: @carustol, @touchinglandorg
Carolina Rubio MacWright is a Colombian-born immigrant, artist, ultrarunner/coach, lawyer, and climate activist based in the NJ/NYC area. She is dedicated to advancing immigrant and humanitarian rights through a multidisciplinary approach of ideas design that bridges art, advocacy, and movement.

Carolina is the founder of Touching Land, a nonprofit organization that integrates somatic practices and the arts—such as clay, cooking, mindfulness, and running—to foster education, empowerment, and community. Touching Land serves diverse and often marginalized communities, with a special focus on immigrants, offering education on legal rights, climate justice, personal agency, and collective joy.

Faith Akioyamen - '25 WSER Runner, Mom, Nurse, and Nigerian. IG: @mileswithfaith
Born in Nigeria, Faith moved to the United States when she was seven, and now lives with her two children in Houston, TX, where she works as a nurse. She discovered running 15 years ago as a way to stay fit and soon after completed her first half marathon, shortly followed by her first full marathon. “I stumbled upon trail and ultra running largely by chance, coming from a background where neither running nor hiking was common,” she explained. “I became a 100-mile finisher six months after becoming a first-time mom. Often, I'm the only black woman I see while climbing a mountain peak or lining up at the start of trail races. I share my journey on social media to inspire others who might not have been exposed to the outdoors growing up. Seeing someone like them in these spaces can be a powerful motivator.”

In 2022, WSER100, we helped bring:
- The first ever land acknowledgement at training camp and at WSER, given by Herman Fillmore
- We supported Yatika Starr Fields to participate in the 2022 WSER100
- We helped organize the first ever Indigenous Runners panel
- Herman held a Wasiw cultural presentation at High Camp
- We almost held an in person run but cancelled due to the storms (next year!)
-Yatika brought to life the first ever poster, inspired by the Wasiw lands.
- Traveled to Austin TX for The Running Event to promote our collaborative GU Energy Gel Flavor - Raspberry Lemonade, that artist and runner, Yatika Starr Fields helped design and develop with GU and Rising Hearts
- We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to not film / document Yatika’s run, this kinship and community - premiered in March 2023 - KNOW TO RUN: YATIKA.

In 2023, WSER100, we helped bring:
- Callie Vinson, was our runner! We helped her get the blessing from Shelly Covert (Nisenan) to give the land acknowledgement at training camp
- We helped organize another Indigenous Runners panel
- We screened KNOW TO RUN: Yatika and Know To Run: Callie (teaser) at WSER100 in Olympic Valley
- Herman held another Wasiw cultural presentation at High Camp
- Yatika brought to life another poster, inspired by the Wasiw lands
- Shelly Covert, gave a land blessing at the finish line in Auburn, CA
- Traveled to Austin TX for The Running Event to promote our collaborative GU Energy Gel Flavor - Raspberry Lemonade, that artist and runner, Yatika Starr Fields helped design and develop with GU and Rising Hearts, hosted a panel, co-hosted a panel discussion and film screening of Know To Run: Yatika, Callie’s teaser and Run To Be Visible
- We are continuing our Know To Run series of this kinship, to not only uplift peoples inspiring stories, but to have something that’s visual, to continue educating the public on what it takes to develop and cultivate meaningful relationships, even if it’s just one act at a time
- Elite Heart will premiere at the 2024 Western States

In 2024, WSER100, we helped bring:
- Sponsoring Alex Staten
- And filming Alex, for another short film in collaboration with On Running! Premiering in 2025!
- Alex gave the land acknowledgement, with blessing from Shelly from the Nisenan Community at the WS Training Camp
- Land Blessing at the Runner’s Meeting
- Hosting 2 panels
- Screening 2 short films
- WS/Hoka Livestream at the finish line in Auburn CA
- Land Blessing at the finish line

We plan to continue advocating for our Indigenous runners as well as bringing more who don’t see themselves in these spaces! To help make running safe for everyone, to be more inclusive, to be more affordable and accessible. And to continue these conversations for us all to collaboratively work together. That is the KINSHIP we STRIVE for - beyond just partnership.

Advocacy, Community Events, DEI, Outdoors, RunningJordan Marie WhetstoneJune 20, 2025Global Running Day, Movement, Health, Wellness, Advocacy, Community