Rising Hearts June Blog Updates
HAPPY PRIDE MONTH TO ALL THE QUEERS, GAYS AND THEYS! This month we celebrate our LGBTQIA2S+ community. We are so happy you’re here! You matter and you are SO LOVED!!! COMMUNITY is what matters right now more than ever and COMMUNITY is what keeps us SAFE! We are so proud of how our community is coming together to do this heart work together that’s so important. If there is anything you would like to promote please reach out to lex@rising-hearts.org
WE LOVE SHARING WHAT THE COMMUNITY IS CREATING!
2026 is year to take up space, hold the door open for each other, and move into these spaces together. A time for us to not be loud, but proud and confident in the heart work we do, and build relations with those who see us, hear us, and invest in community, meaningfully. If you’re someone that wants to be part of that or someone that works with a brand and wants to collaborate, please reach out! Be sure to check out the rest of our blog for updates, inspiring running reflections and highlights!
Please see below for updates and community. If there is anything you would like to promote please reach out.
NEXT AWARENESS + ACTION EVENTS:
+ June 4-7th: RUN IN BEAUTY will have its New York premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival | Get your tickets for June 7th and have a chance to meet Alex and the film crew!
+ June 12 - 14th: Rising Hearts will be in Washington DC with a handful of RH Athletes for the RUN JUNETEENTH event and to have its DC Premiere of RUN IN BEAUTY on Sunday June 14th.
+ June 15-30th: #LetThemRun Pride 5k | REGISTER / DONATE: https://events.elitefeats.com/26letthemrunpride
+ July 1-15: Disability Pride 5k | REGISTER / DONATE: https://events.elitefeats.com/26disabilitypride
We are up to so much! Wopila tanka, many thanks, to all of you for your support, and we look forward to our hearts moving forward together.
- Rising Hearts
Community Events
LOS ANGELES IN PERSON
Join us for the 6th Annual Stride for Pride 5K Run/Walk, the first Pride event in the City of Montebello founded by Run Montebello Run
Presented by Music to Our Soles
Celebrate with us on Saturday, June 27, 2026, at 8:00 AM at BLVD MRKT for a historic Pride tradition in Montebello. This event honors the legacy of two young LGBT community members who helped inspire and launch Montebello’s first Pride tradition, making this the original Stride for Pride 5k
We’re proud to partner again with BLVD MRKT’s East Side Pride for a day of visibility, unity, and celebration. Proceeds will benefit The Wall Las Memorias and Jovenes Inc.
Run or walk with pride and be part of Montebello’s vibrant history!
DJ, Raffle, supporting community partners Vision for Enrichment , Organica Juice Bar and Special Guest speaker to be announced.
SIGN UP HERE!
UPCOMING RUNS
#LetThemRun Pride 5k
Join us for our 2nd annual #LetThemRun Pride 5k!
Rising Hearts is excited to elevate Pride month by celebrating through movement and community with the #LetThemRun Pride 5K!
Join us for a run and walk supporting Cal Calamia, the 2SLGBTQIA+ and Non-binary Communities, who are being targeted with violence, exclusion, and legislative policies erasing them and their existence, when it has proven time and time again, they belong. Let's show up as allies, so the 2SLGBTQIA+ and Non-binary communities can show their pride, thrive, and feel supported. And with the registration and donations, we will be able to give back in a financially meaningful way so that they can continue the heart work they do.
+ When: June 15 - 30, 2026
+ Where: Virtual
Beneficiaries:
+ 2hot4hoodies
+ You Belong Outdoors and Beyond
Join Rising Hearts as we celebrate and support our sacred community for Disability Pride Month. Wear Black to show your solidarity and roll, run, dance or walk in solidarity with our sacred kin! This is our 2nd Annual Disability Pride 5k and we hope to raise enough money for organizations in these communities to show our support.
The colors of Disability Pride
Black: Represents the barriers and darkness faced by people with disabilities.
Red: Represents physical disabilities.
Gold: Represents neurodiversity.
White: Represents invisible and undiagnosed disabilities.
Blue: Represents emotional and psychiatric disabilities.
Green: Represents sensory disabilities.
This year, we hope to continue giving back and all registration fees and donations will support Born To Adapt and The Autistic People of Color Fund!
Get out, move, walk, run, bike, swim, roll, skate, meditate - however you want to move, we can do it together, as community.
BENEFICIARIES
To expand societal awareness around disabilities and to foster spaces where everyone can have access to the transformative power of movement, community, and the great outdoors.
The Autistic People of Color Fund practices redistributive justice and mutual aid by returning and sharing money directly to and with autistic people of color. We provide microgrants to Black, Brown, Native, Asian, and mixed-race people in the autistic community for survival, organizing, leisure, and pleasure. We are committed to the principles of Disability Justice, including leadership by those most impacted, intersectionality, anti-capitalist politics, cross-movement solidarity, interdependence, collective access, and collective liberation. Our work is grounded in commitment to ending extractive economies and building and sustaining generative economies.
TEAM RISING HEARTS
Let’s celebrate these amazing humans, inspiring community runners, who will be running the Run Juneteenth Half Marathon and 10K this June! They have helped promote Rising Hearts and some of them have helped fundraise for the heart work we are grateful to keep doing. Team Rising Hearts has 6 runners - Mel Devoney, Rocío Villalobos, Alex Staten, Shayla Manitowabi Huebner, Alexis Saenz, and Jordan Whetstone. Cheer them on June 13th!
6/7 RUN IN BEAUTY | TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
RUN IN BEAUTY will have its New York premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival | Get your tickets for June 7th and have a chance to meet Alex and the film crew!
6/14 WASHINGTON DC | MARK YOUR CALENDAR
RUN REFLECTIONS
Karla Estudillo Fuentes | RH Athlete + Charity Runner
Before I flew out to join the Rising Hearts team in Virginia, I was nervous. This group of people coming together are all runners I admire: for their speed, for their advocacy, for their heart. Did I measure up? I certainly wasn't as fast, and I certainly wasn't as visible. I am so grateful that throughout this journey I was reminded by the land, my fellow runners, and the MMIWR cause that it is never about me being enough, but about giving of self. As I laced up that morning and took in the morning drum beats, they matched that of my heart. Thump thump thump. The drumbeats seemed to wake up the sky and as we ran together I heard it again. The thump thump thump of feet and hearts aligned. Much like Emily Pike, we are each one person, but also like her, we are someone's whole world and part of a bigger tapestry. During my section of the run, I thought of her smile. The hope in her heart as she set for home. I set a new heart rate high and I truly don't know if it was the hills or my heart swelling with lament. Running reminds me I am both a small piece of the cosmos and all the cosmos at once. Whenever I step out for a run, I can't take the coming home part for granted. Every time I step through the threshold into home I see glimpses of gratitude for the future. During this prayer run I cried for Emily and for every relative that didn't get to make it home. My fellow runners and I joined in prayer, with purpose, and in reminder that this moment is a privilege. I am so grateful to Rising Hearts for the constant reminder of kinship and for every runner who said yes to planting seeds and treading purposefully for a future where all relatives can come home.
Megan DrivingHawk | RWP Athlete
Beyond the Fourth Trimester: A Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism Reflection, part 3
IG: @MDrivingHawk00
Substack: Living a Kindred Legacy
https://substack.com/@megandrivinghawk?r=4g2ew&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=edit-profile
In this phase of postpartum desert mornings were finally cool enough to start walking with R after dropping big brother off at school. However, just as I entered this phase, we moved houses, so I took a short break from the 8-week Postpartum Training Program and my PT and I decided not to progress my pelvic floor exercises either. That meant the number of weeks postpartum I was in didn't match where I was in recovery weeks. This was such a struggle for my brain to accept. An older version of me would have progressed forward to stay in line with a perfect progressing healing timeline. Now, the me with integrated knowledge and newfound acceptance about healing and recovery decided to do what was best for my body. Surprisingly, the exercises strengthened my body in places that still felt weak from when I had my first baby. Although this phase was the same length as the previous trimester, it felt like it moved quickly and everything else moved slowly at the same time. Therapy reminded me that a perfect healing timeline doesn’t exist.
By the end of this phase I successfully ended the 8-week program, started Practice Brave onboarding, started physical therapy exercises that specifically prepared me to start running, completed phase three of an eight phase running program provided by my Physical Therapist, and started working on my capacity to hike while carrying one of my two children.
Programming:
-Practice Brave onboarding (workout program I followed pre pregnancy made by the same coaches as the Pregnant & Postpartum Athleticism training program)
-Physical therapy 8 phase return to running program.
*Reflection 1 published September 1, 2024
*Reflection 2 published February 3, 2025
Charlinda Haudley | RH Athlete, Charity Bib Runner
On May 9th, I completed my second half marathon at Yosemite National Park, sharing this memorable experience with my best friend, Dr. Eliza Yellow Bird. Eliza had previously joined me at my first marathon with Rising Hearts last year during the Every Women's Marathon, and her enthusiasm for our group inspired her to sign up for her own race in 2026. As a new mom, her training journey was quite different from mine, and supporting her opened my eyes to the unique challenges new mothers face, including how their training, nutrition, and running schedules differ. Running alongside her and cheering her on was truly special, and we both crossed the finish line together, with my niece in her arms. I hope that one day, Eliza will join Rising Hearts at a race. Here’s to the strength of Native mothers everywhere!
Lace Coughlin | RH Athlete, Charity Bib Runner
In May I ran my 3rd Marathon! (How wild is that?!) It was a very special run to me because it was the day after the two year anniversary of my Dad's death - so I was able to pray and celebrate him for 26.2 miles! I felt stronger than ever out there and I felt the power of running on these lands soaring through me.
I PR'd!!!!
I am forever grateful to be apart of this team & the running community. Cant wait to see what everyone else has been up to!
Susie Stephen | RWP Athlete Advocate, Charity Bib Runner
At the end of April I traveled to Japan to participate in the Mount Fuji 100 trail running weekend, which had always been a dream event. When my name came up in the lottery a few months earlier, I eagerly accepted a place in the Kai 70k and decided to make the event my Rising Hearts fundraiser for the year. The race took place in the foothills of Mount Fuji, covering 43 miles of tracks, roads and trails, climbing up and down valleys, and winding in and out of small farms and villages. At one point the trail intersected a local shrine, and I paused to pay my respects and share a prayer of gratitude for everyone who had supported my fundraiser. A local runner kindly showed me the shrine etiquette, and we shared a moment before heading back up the trail, straight into a section of bamboo forest on a steep hillside. The course also offered runners views of Mount Fuji in the first half, which stopped me in my tracks. It truly is a magnificent sight. The Indigenous Ainu people have a phrase for 'deity of fire,' fuchi, which is believed to be the origin of Mount Fuji's name. The Shinto and Buddhist religions also worshipped Mount Fuji, and to this day the volcano still draws pilgrims to its peak every year. A big thank everyone who supported my fundraiser. Together we managed to raise over $700 for Rising Hearts and all the community building work they do!
RUN FOR RISING HEARTS
RUN WITH US!
Currently, we have 25 charity runner’s Rising Hearts with $4,586 raised of the $30,000 2026 goal! We have a SoCal Ragnar Relay team of 12, and raised $2,002 for Rising Hearts! And 4 runners for the Rising Hearts Boston Marathon team raising $2000 of $7,000!
In 2025, we had 37 runners dedicating their run / race to Rising Hearts! We met our goal of $36,000! And in 2024, we had 5 California International Marathon runners as well, with $2,500 raised!
All of this was possible because we made a new option available since we had a handful of runners reach out to us, asking how can they support us or fundraise for the heart work we do. So, we created the Rising Hearts Charity Runner’s Program, aside from our partnership with The Wander Project (where you select a race from them, with set fundraising limits, then we receive the funds at the end of the year), and through some of our bib entries we receive at the Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon, California International Marathon and Every Woman’s Marathon. So don’t miss your chance to run with Rising Hearts! We help reimburse your registration fees if needed, get you fuel, a singlet, and shoes. And, we have no penalties for not reaching your goal. we’re just grateful you chose us and are supporting us in this way. Thank you!
1.) We had TEAM RISING HEARTS at the Every Woman’s Marathon in Scottsdale, AZ - all 13 women crossed the finish line and raised $7,436 for Rising Hearts!
2.) Rising Hearts had 2 runners at the ‘25 New York City Marathon and raised $4,136.
3.) Rising Heart had 3 runners at The Marathon Project, December 21st in Chandler, AZ, where Hosava Kretzmann (Hopi/Diné) also qualified for the 2028 Marathon Olympic Trials! The 3 runners raised $3,840.
4.) Rising Hearts had 2 runners at the California International Marathon, where Blanca and Carlos raised $1,904, and we donated $700 to NorCal Resist on behalf of Blanca as well!
5.) And 24 runners who collectively raised $18,806 for Rising Hearts!
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.
Perks: RH Singlet, merch, stickers, fuel, and if shoes are needed, we can help you! We are excited to learn from you and support you. We are here to amplify your efforts through our platforms and help you reach your goal! Email us at info@rising-hearts.org if you’re interested in dedicating a run and raising funds for Rising Hearts.
GOALS FOR 2026:
We hope to get 15 more Rising Hearts runners for 2026 and raise $30,000, collectively ! And we have 25 runners now, confirmed :)
Suggested fundraising limits:
RH Athletes / Community = $600
Open to Community = minimum $800
Perks: RH Singlet, merch, stickers, fuel, and if shoes are needed, we can help you!
PODCASTS TO LISTEN TO:
Your Two Spirit Aunties
Welcome to the adventures of your Two Spirit Aunties! Join us for laughs, truth, heart, and all things Two-Spirit! #yourtwospiritaunties. Get in touch at yourtwospiritaunties@gmail.com or on Instagram @yourtwospiritaunties
To find articles, videos, or friends we reference on the podcast check out our Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/yourtwospiritaunties
Episode One: Brianna and Shilo introduce themselves and why they chose to do this podcast! In hilarious and trauma-informed fashion, they give listeners tips on how best to listen to the podcast and what you can expect in future episodes. The second half of the episode they discuss what it means to them to be aunties and the cultural significance of "auntieness".