Boston Marathon Recap
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND!
All 4 Rising Hearts runners at the 130th Boston Marathon crossed that sweet finish line! This is Rising Hearts 5th year in collaboration with the BAA and other brand partners, like On, to support Indigenous runners and athletes, at this race and to help advocate for all runners who don’t see themselves in these spaces. We are committed to helping the running and outdoor spaces a more safe, supportive, diverse, inclusive, accessible and equitable space, not just for Indigenous runners, but for everyone who enjoys movement and who wants to see themselves in these spaces!
We had a bunch of activations and a lot of community there! We are so proud of every one of our relatives that participated in the Boston Marathon! And it was so exciting to see so many other Indigenous runners. Learning the history of Ellison ‘Tarzan’ Brown (the infamous Native who broke John Kelley’s heart and now, we have Heartbreak Hill to thank!) and Indigenous runner’s history part of this world major. Representation from Ohketeau Cultural Center, Native Women Run, Wings of America, and other Indigenous runner’s who qualified on their own.
Ohketeau Cultural Center and Native Women Run, supported by Teva and the 26.2 Foundation, helped set the tone and intentions by hosting a special event at the Hopkinton start line for all the Indigenous runners, holding space for stories, hearing from Ellison’s granddaughter, Anna Brown-Jackson, and other Indigenous runner’s sharing their why and what this means to them. Then we all went to the start line, took a picture together as community, and Hiawatha Brown honored all the runner’s and the start, with prayer and song for the runner’s.
It was the perfect day for this run. The weather was perfect. The crowd was vibrating and wild! And no matter how you feel or perform, good or bad, the experience, the cheers and everything part of this event, makes you forget a bad run or feeling. The people keep you going! The runner’s encourage you! And somewhere deep down, we find the energy to keep one foot in front of the other!
Funds towards:
+ Running On Native Lands Initiative
+ Running With Purpose Athlete Advocates (38 runners)
+ RH Charity Runner’s (37 runners)
+ Rising Hearts Stories | Filmmaking (4 films, plus new project in production now)
+ Virtual Movement Events | Race Organizing (48 and counting since June 2020)
+ Consulting - DEI / Collab opportunities / Facilitating Connections
Special Incentives:
+ With every $100 donation, you get a new Rising Hearts shirt and other smaller goodies.
+ With every $250 donation, you get a coffee mug, Rising Hearts shirt, and other smaller goodies.
Learn a bit more about our runners, read their run reflections and support them as they make their way to that Boylston finish line!
- Rising Hearts
4/17 BAA Indigenous Runner’s Sacred Strides Panel
130th Boston Marathon + the Indigenous Runners “Sacred Strides” Panel
Indigenous Peoples from all over were able to hold space at the @bostonmarathon Expo for the Indigenous Runners Panel, moderated by Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band) of Ohketeau Cultural Center, Thawn Harris (Narragansett Tribe), Kristen Wyman (Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band), Carissa McKinney (Turtle Clan of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe) and Jordan Whetstone (Lakota) of Rising Hearts!
Not only were they all able to share in their experiences of running and community, they were each able to speak to all or some parts of the heart work they all do. The history and legacy of Indigenous running and presence at the Boston Marathon, has been woven into the miles with the lands from start to finish.
Indigenous Legacy Runners:
Tom Longboat (Onondaga), Boston Marathon’s first Indigenous Champion in 1907 (runner up in 1901). Now, his great-grandson, Kristian Jamieson will be running in his footsteps on Marathon Monday!
Ellison ‘Tarzan’ Brown (Narragansett), 2 time winner of the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939. He ran the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Heartbreak Hill was named because of Brown’s effort to break Kelley’s heart on the course to continue on to win the marathon!
Andrew Sockalexis (Penobscot), ran the marathon at the 1912 Sweden Olympics. Finished runner up in 1912-1913 at the Boston Marathon. - their legacy of Indigenous running and our presence at the Boston Marathon!
Patti Dillon (Mi’kmaq), we mentioned her before on the Panel. She has held the world record and American road records. She was considered one of the most dominating American female runners of the 1970’s. And runner up at the Boston Marathon 1979-1981! Going from never running and smoking, to dominating running, she has inspired many Indigenous runners! And continues to coach the next generations.
What an honor to share space with all these inspiring voices! Being able to have the space created for us and our voices, further shows the community we want to see and bring! We can’t wait for more in the years to come!
4/17 On x RH Shakeout + Lightspray Demo
Boston Marathon | Rising Hearts x On LightSpray Run
What. A. Morning! Wow. It was an incredible honor to hold space, all thanks to On, for creating the space for us, to bring community together.
We began the morning with a land blessing, led by Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Nipmuc), Executive Director of Ohketeau Cultural Center. Blessed everyone there before we headed out on a shakeout run and tested our the new Lightspray shoes.
We continued with community in getting to know each other, catch up, meet for the first time, and ended the run with a grounding performance from the Redhawk Singers and Dancers! New connections made, great conversations, and we are excited to help continue the conversations and do what we can to create the spaces for us to be in and thrive in!
Redhawk Singers & Dancers
We are so grateful for the Redhawk Singers joining us that morning! The drum is the heartbeat of our Nations and communities. To have them center within our event, just brought more meaning and purpose. We look forward to more opportunities like this to come. So stay tuned :)
We had to do it - post panel selfie with an amazing crowd! Wopila tanka, many thanks for joining us and learning part of this history and listening to our stories!
Got to connect with Missy again! She ran her first Boston Marathon, her shake out run before she takes on the Cocodona 250 again on Monday, May 4th!!!!! Wishing her all the best for a great run at Cocodona.
Rising Hearts in kinship with the BAA, was able to receive 2 entries to the Boston Marathon this year! As we did in 2023, 2024 and 2025. And 2, were able to get in and help fundraise for Rising Hearts with this amazing team!
We are so proud of this group! All getting to know each other more after our 2025 Every Woman’s Marathon in Scottsdale, AZ! This team has put in the miles, the sweat, the prayers, and the heart work to be ready for tomorrow, and helped rase funds for Rising Hearts! Please consider donating if you can, and help us reach that goal to keep doing the heart work we are so grateful to do! Let’s meet this goal!
Incentives:
$100 = RH Shirt, goodies!
$250 = RH Crewneck, Rising Hearts Coffee Mug, Goodies
$50 = Rising Hearts Coffee Mug
post run reflections
Ashleigh Thompson | Rising Hearts Charity Runner and Athlete
I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon for the first time with the Rising Hearts team and supporters!
Although I didn’t hit the time I was aiming for, the experience was unforgettable. I soaked in as much electric Boston energy as I could across all 26.2 miles, from the nonstop cheering and creative signs to the thousands of runners and volunteers who made the day so special. I teared up a lot, overwhelmed by the encouragement from strangers and the sheer number of people who came out to support us. With ideal conditions and a city that truly shows up, it was hard not to feel carried along the entire way.
Thank you to Rising Hearts for the invitation and for creating such a meaningful team to be part of! Miigwech.
Melina Devoney | RH Athlete Advocate and Charity Runner
Even though I grew up on Nonotuck/Pocumtuck lands (Amherst) I never imagined I’d run the Boston Marathon — let alone be surrounded by so many inspiring Indigenous athletes, my running heroes, family and friends the entire weekend.
After running back-to-back races this month, I’m proud of what I pulled off in Boston. The mantra that somehow came to me on the Newton hills was, “I don’t break because we don’t break,” thinking of my Rising Hearts team. I was propelled forward by the stories of the runners we met from Wings of America, Native Women Run, Ohketeau Cultural Center, and of course the story of Tarzan Brown on Heartbreak Hill.
Jordan Whetstone | RH Founder, Athlete Advocate and Charity Runner
I ran my 5th Boston Marathon, running in prayer for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Peoples, and for community. With each run and visit, it gets better and better! The community gatherings and opportunities to see people you admire from social media, just fills your heart and looking forward to more.
For me, I run in prayer for missing and murdered loved ones like Emily Pike ad Cole Brings Plenty, for their families, for our communities, for our younger and next generations, and holding space for other issues, like protecting our trans kin, immigrant communities, and for the genocide that is continuously happening in Gaza. It’s a privilege to be able to run, to be able to create these spaces with community, to participate, and to just live right now during times that are very scary, uncertain, and triggering for many.
So much has happened since the 2019 Boston Marathon, in bringing MMIWP to that race and platform, wearing the red handprint, and the names and prayers I carried, my life changed. And I can’t imagine running being any different now than by using it as a means to build community, discuss things that need to be included, hold space for those that can’t be here, and still enjoy running. Running for Justice, still continues. Now more than ever is to continue supporting the heart work that is making impacts and using our voices and bodies to help communicate what is important.
This time, I reflected on the lands more than usual. Remembering stories from Kristen and Carissa who are Indigenous to these lands, running by Speen Street in Framingham along the course, Kristen’s family name and original proprietors of the land, and the force removal of her people from those spaces, and now, beginning to return to the lands in ceremony and paddling up the river for 17 miles to honor their ancestors, culture and history.
This experience was extra special because we had 4 of us. Experiencing this together. Having shakeout runs along the Charles! Bib pick ups. Enjoying meals together. And sharing in community experiences like we did at the start line with other Indigenous runners. Sisterhood, community is everything. And I’m so grateful to keep running, to keep advocating and keep connecting. I can’t wait for us to reunite and run together again!
Caroline Sekaquaptewa | RH Athlete Advocate and Charity Runner
Boston race weekend is always jam packed and one of my favorite times of the year because it is a whole weekend centered around the running community. Every year it gets to be more amazing with more connections to other indigenous runners. This year was my first year running with the Rising Hearts team. The indigenous runner’s panel at the expo, a shakeout run with the team, the start line runner’s gathering all created a sense of community within the tens of thousands of runners. The stories shared about indigenous runner history and reasons why each person runs were very meaningful to me.
Race day brought perfect weather. The miles ticked by and it was an up and down day but feelings of gratitude to be able to run my 13th Boston marathon prevailed over the “downs”. A surgery last summer and perimenopause struggles have made running very challenging the past year but these challenges brought much more appreciation that I was there on the course grinding it out and challenging myself. As I ran, I smiled because despite the challenges, I was here again. The Newton hills were hard, mile 20 was hard. Learning about the history of Heartbreak Hill and the strength shown by “Tarzan” Brown brought a source of strength. My thoughts went to "home" during these challenging miles: my so’oh (grandma) and her amazing strength, my grandsons and their laughter and endless energy, my daughters, my moms. I drew from all their strength in the hard miles and kept moving and smiling.
As I made my way past mile 21, I refocused and realized I was in reach of a BQ. I did the mental math and decided what pace I would need to finish the remaining miles. I calmed my mind, focused on each mile as it came, but at the same time I tried to enjoy the famous Boston marathon energy. This is the loudest part of the race, and it is hard to describe the energy and the loudness of it all! Miles 24-26 were hard, I was cutting it close, but I knew the goal was within reach. I made the right on Hereford, then left on Boylston and tried to go hard to the finish. My legs were hurting giving all that I could at that point. I’m not sure when I pulled out my Hopi flag; I am sure it would have been easier to run without holding the flag, but it was important for me to represent my tribe by holding the flag though the finish because it is who we are- Hopi runners. I crossed the finish line, and it was emotional. I cried hard; a little from relief for another BQ and the emotions for the loss our community has recently experienced, a little of happy tears.
If sharing about running this race encourages one person; that will make me happy. We belong here and I will take up spaces in World Marathon Majors, in starting lines all over the world. I will do so for as long as my body can get me across the finish line!
ALL THE LOVE TO OUR CHEER SQUAD!!!
Dr. Lydia Jennings, teaches at Dartmouth, and came to visit and stay with us!! Yatika Starr Fields, biked 80 miles from Maine, to visit and cheer during his artists residency. And Devin Whetstone, partner and bestie to RH Founder, Jordan, always showing up to cheer and bring the silliness.
Thank you to these 3 amazing humans for bringing the energy, the laughter, enjoying cramped car rides, cheering Rising Hearts on, and being part of this experience with us!
