Rising Hearts August Blog

Hello Beautiful Community! We hope you’ve had an amazing summer filled with family, friends, outdoors, travel and ceremony! We are very excited to slow down in this month and get some time to reflect on our busy few months before it picks back up for the fall. We have a few things for you to check out and share. Please see below for updates and community. If there is anything you would like to promote please reach out to lex@rising-hearts.org.

NEXT AWARENESS + ACTION EVENTS:
+ Back2School Backpack Fundraiser | 7/16/26 - 8/5/26 | DONATE NOW!
+ Run Richmond 16.19 x Team Rising Hearts | Sept. 12th
+ DC Half Marathon x Team Rising Hearts | Sept. 20th
+ 6th Annual Every Child Matters 5k. Virtual | Sept. 27- Oct. 3rd | REGISTER NOW!
+ 7th Annual Indigenous Peoples 5k, 10k, Half, Virtual | Oct. 9-13th | LINK LIVE ON 9/1/26
+ Marine Corps Marathon x Team Rising Hearts | Oct. 25th
+ US Trail Running Conference, Nashville, TN | Nov. 5-7th
+ The Running Event | Dec. 2026

We are up to so much! The hustle continues. And we hope to apply for more funding and we will keep raising funds as we go to keep us running in all ways. Wopila tanka, many thanks, to all of you for your support, and we look forward to our hearts moving forward together.

- Rising Hearts

Rising Hearts Run Retreat

What a week! Rising Hearts was able to host a mini run retreat for some runners! 2 of them are running the World Major Sydney Marathon at the end of the month and it was great to have us here together, putting in the miles and sweat while feeling joy and sisterhood.

In the Shenandoah Valley, we were able to join the Her+ Trail Run night, with a great bunch, including several runner’s and walker’s from Charlottesville who are part of the So Gifted / Prolyfyck Run Crew.

Her+ Trail group, Rising Hearts and So Gifted, together!

MOVIE NIGHT WITH RISING HEARTS AND THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY BICYCLE COALITION
We are so excited to have hosted this event with one of our community partners, the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition on July 30th!
This was an opportunity to bring community centered storytelling to Harrisonburg VA and rent out the Court Square Theater!
We were able to screen, IN THE DIRT, RUN IN BEAUTY and SEVEN. And had special guests be part of it - Run In Beauty filmmakers, Alex Staten (Run In Beauty) and Freddie Irby of Run Juneteenth and SEVEN.

We began with introductions, thanking everyone for being there, and had our long time friends and relatives, Lance Fisher and Giovanna begin the event with prayer, song and drum to start everything off in a good way. After the films, we moved to the post film discussions. The community panel was an exciting conversation centered on the running and outdoor community, access, connection with the lands, equity, and our “why” to making these films as storytellers and as the voices centered in the films.

After the panel concluded and community questions, we moved the event to the Capital Ale House for food and drinks, keep the conversations going, and keep building community.
Thank you to everyone who joined us!!

Post run and walk plogging (to pick up, trash)!

PLOGGING WITH FREDDIE | RUN JUNETEENTH
On Friday, we able to go plogging with Freddie Irby (founder of RUN JUNETEENTH) and his partner. This venture is to jog and pick up trash, Cleaning up the roads and enjoying each other’s company! We ran about 4.5 miles, picked up 12 bags of trash and we look forward to the next one! This is something simple we can all do in our own communities - get your run club or friends or family, to pick a spot, especially where you know trash is and do it safely, and help keep the lands beautiful. If you do, be sure to tag us on IG - @rising_hearts!

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

WE ARE EXCITED TO HIGHLIGHT ONE OF OUR VERY OWN! LEX SAENZ’S BUSINESS MOVE WELL!

Move Well provides movement wellness classes for companies and organization’s employees through dance, fitness and movement meditation. Empower your team by encouraging them to connect with us through movement wellness classes. Our classes are designed to rejuvenate your spirit through mindful movement. Invest in your employees and see the difference in the workplace. Be a part of a community that values the art of movement and its profound impact on well-being.

@lexxsaenz | @movementwellness_

Learn more

UPCOMING RUNS + EVENTS:

SAVE THE DATE | REGISTER | DONATE

This September, Run to Remember.
September 30th - Wear Orange

Reach out to us if you’d like to host an in person run/walk in your community!
When: Sept. 26th - Oct. 3rd
Where: Virtual and In Person (TBD)
$15 Donation to view the new feature length documentary, REMAINING NATIVE!
And option to add the Indigenous lands to your bib.

Join team RISING HEARTS! 4 will be selected to win a pair of shoes!

And all funds will continue being donated to Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and Orange Shirt Society to support their heart work, impact, and support for survivors, families, and community through healing, justice, accountability, and support.

#OrangeShirtDay #EveryChildMatters

Make $15 donation to receive screener link and password to view! Last day to watch is October 4th.

REMAINING NATIVE:
A documentary told from the perspective of Ku Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner, struggling to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great-grandfather's escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present, and future.

WEAR ORANGE

Remembrance Run ‘26 with Ku Stevens

August 14 - 16, 2026

Hosted by distance runner Kutoven Stevens

In collaboration with Remaining Native

In 2021, when the news broke in Kamloops, Canada of the 215 unmarked graves of Indigenous children's remains, Ku and his family decided to bring the community together, creating the Remembrance Run to retrace the 50 mile escape his great-grandfather took to escape the Stewart Indian School. The run amassed over one hundred people across the country. Since then, the Remembrance Run was held in community in 2022 and 2023, with Kutoven making the solo journey in 2024 and 2025. Now the Stevens Family, in collaboration with Remaining Native’s Impact Campaign, are thrilled to host the 2026 Remembrance Run. We open this invitation to all as we gather August 14-16th starting at the Yerington Paiute Tribe and concluding at the Stewart Indian School to honor the children who survived Indian boarding schools and to remember those who never came home, by laying down prayers with our feet.

THE REMEMBRANCE RUN
This is a prayerful journey, not a protest, and we will begin and end with peace and respect for one another. It's a non-competitive, medicine wheel approach, so we invite people of all backgrounds to trek with us. The Remembrance Run is a 50-mile journey, split into two days, with overnight camping and storytelling at Sunrise Pass. There will be mandatory stops every 5 miles to regroup and refresh. No one will be left behind. Some may choose to run with Kutoven, some will walk. Some may complete the entire odyssey; others will journey as teams, and individuals will give what endurance they can.

REGISTER
See the FAQ below for more details, packing list, route overview and how to get involved. This event is FREE and open to the public, however we are collecting donations to help support the run logistics and the Remaining Native impact campaign. See the Get Involved tab to make a donation.

Can’t make the run in person? Join us virtually!

SPONSOR
Rising Hearts is excited to be part of it this year! We donated $500 to the efforts, we got GU Energy Labs to send a bunch of fuel, assortment of shoes from On Running donated, and sending 3 Rising Hearts runner’s to participate in this exciting and meaningful run.

Remaining Native Documentary

A documentary told from the perspective of Ku Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner, struggling to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great-grandfather's escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present, and future.

This film will also be available for our 6th Annual Every Child Matters 5k in September 26th - October 3rd with a $15 donation, you’ll receive a screener link to view!

Learn more

RUN REFLECTIONS

Yatika Starr Fields | RWP Athlete Advocate

FULL STORY IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTER AND BLOG! Here is an excerpt:

“I’ve run in the San Juan Mountains before. I ran the Ouray 50 miler in 2019 and in 2021 ran the Ouray 100 as my first 100 miler. These two races helped a lot with what to expect from Hardrock 100, especially the long Camp Bird Road. It’s relatively similar in climbing and terrain, along with altitude.

I was stoked to get in; any endurance runner who has ambitions and a natural joy of running through the night has Hardrock in their peripheral.

There’s many ways to run and participate in these 100 mile runs/ races. You can be the runner, you can be a part of the crew that helps the runner and you can be a pacer or volunteer at one of the many aid stations that exist along the course.

After the call that I was moving up to the big leagues (Hardrock) I first thought of my friend Michael and Kimberly Miller who I got to know from their support in taking me and accommodating me in Urique, Chihuahua in March of 2020 for the Caballo Blanco 50 miler. There I met other runners from all over who were visiting the Copper Canyons for the first time to experience the beautiful culture and landscape of the Sierra Madre and run with the Raramuri, Indigenous people of this region in Chihuahua Mexico. While there, I painted a huge mural next to the start line, on a beautiful curved wall of 20ft that the municipality had built just for the occasion. Right after I finished, we all ran the race.

I was thinking about the Tarahumara and my time there in Chihuahua and how important it would be to have a few Rarámuri runners come up to Silverton and be a part of this unique, once in a lifetime experience and run with me as pacers. I was also thinking about how in the late 90’s a team of Tarahumara runners came up to Leadville and Colorado to run some of these races. That story always stuck out to me as a team of runners who were Indigenous, brown and wore traditional clothes that came into a scene of mountain ultra running in the U.S and shook things up, surprising many people, but it wasn’t a surprise for many. Running for Indigenous people has always been a part of who we are, before European contact and settler colonial displacements; It’s used in ceremonies as a way to communicate, travel for war and hunting and used as friendly competition. Running is a part of us. This is a whole other conversation that also correlates and connects us to the land we are on and the many valleys and mountains the trail races happen on that take place all over Turtle Island, so called U.S.A..”

Cali Curely | RWP Athlete and Charity Runner

I came home from the Missoula Marathon with a new personal record.

While it wasn't the Boston Qualifying time I had hoped for, this race reminded me that success isn't defined by a single outcome. It lives in the moments when we choose to keep moving forward, even when conditions are less than ideal.

Missoula brought steady rain, higher elevation, and muscle cramps that tested me in the final miles. As Indigenous people, we're taught not to run from the rain or complain about it, but to welcome it. Instead of resisting what was in front of me, I embraced it, and that shifted the entire experience.

One of the highlights of the weekend was finally meeting my coach and his incredible wife in person. Watching them both earn their Boston Qualifying times was inspiring, and I'm grateful to be surrounded by people who lead with dedication and humility.

Representing Rising Hearts and my community throughout the weekend filled me with pride. Every race is an opportunity to carry our stories, our teachings, and our resilience with us. That's a responsibility I don't take lightly.

The BQ didn't happen this time, but I left Missoula with something just as valuable: deeper confidence, renewed gratitude, and the reminder that growth isn't always measured by the finish line.

Now, I'm carrying this momentum forward as I prepare for my next marathon: the Sydney Marathon in Australia, where I'll have the honor of representing both Rising Hearts and GU on the international stage. It's an exciting opportunity to continue uplifting Indigenous representation in running while showing what's possible through community, perseverance, and purpose.

August Grell | Charity Bib Runner

After recovering for a while after surgery, I was able to come back into running at the SF Marathon. It was beautiful to run through the city, cross the golden gate bridge, and see the nature of Marin county. It's been hard to rest and recover but I'm glad my first race back was one of my best, despite the course. We didn’t meet - but I also saw Cal Calamia run!

FUNDRAISE FOR RISING HEARTS

Learn more

Here’s a chance to support our heart work through a different means - running! We hope to find 5 more runners for 2026! Perks, you’ll get a singlet, shirt, and support!

2026 RACES ARE OPEN!

THE WANDER PROJECT X RISING HEARTS

WANT TO RACE FOR RISING HEARTS OUTSIDE OF THESE WE HAVE SELECTED?
Not seeing a race you want to run in this list? Check out all of the Wander Project events and choose the “Your Choice” option. They will reach out to learn more about your charity of choice and once you let them know that you’ll be running for Rising Hearts, they will make sure your funds come to support our mission!”

Athletes who want to support Rising Hearts for a race that is not listed, can sign up for any of the events on The Wander Project calendar: https://www.wanderproject.org/event-partners/ and pick 'Your Choice' for charity and then fill out the form to indicate they want to support Rising Hearts: (FAQ page here: https://www.wanderproject.org/athletes/frequently-asked-questions/)

Reach out to us via email, info@rising-hearts.org. Share with us your plans, then we’ll set you up with the link!

Want to run for Rising Hearts?

This is more new for us! We have a givelively link specifically for runners/individuals, who want to raise funds for the heart work we do! If it’s not through our partnership with The Wander Project, or our other partners at CIM or Boston, you can run for Rising Hearts at any race you choose and bring more fun and purpose to your why and the run.

We hope to get 35 Rising Hearts runners! And we have 26 runners now :) With a $36,400 projection of funds raised by the end of the year!

Suggested fundraising limits:
RH Athletes / Community = $500
Open to Community = minimum $800

Perks: RH Singlet, merch, stickers, fuel, and if shoes are needed, we can help you!

RH CHARITY RUNNERS