New York City Marathon 2025 with Rising Hearts!
It’s race week! Rising Hearts coming to Lenapehoking lands for the NYC Marathon!
Rising Hearts is 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 are so happy to have the support from the New York Road Runners (NYRR) - a journey and path we are excited to be on and 2 entries we are excited to have and train for! We are less than a week away from one of the most exciting races / course / communities cheering and we are here for it!
Stay tuned for more announcements, fundraisers and content via our newsletters, blogs and socials!
Tentative Schedule of Events:
+ 10/31 | Friday: Welcome Reception at Walker Hotel Tribeca
5-6:30pm | Meet Indigenous artist, Yatika Starr Fields and Rising Hearts and grab your one of a kind NYC singlet made by Yatika!
Kick off marathon weekend with us! Enjoy free drinks, including a special Tailwind mocktail, plus beer, wine, and appetizers. Meet Indigenous artist and ultra-runner Yatika Starr Fields, creator of our limited-edition Rising Hearts kit available for purchase at the event.
+ 11/1: 8am No-Drop Shakeout Run with Rabbit RSVP HERE
Join us for an easy 3-mile shakeout with Rising Hearts, Women Make Moves, Tailwind, the Walker Hotel, and Halo. Post-run fun includes free coffee, sock giveaways, and more.
We are really grateful for these opportunities to come together and for the support organizations bringing us to these spaces to represent our communities, our passions, and hold space for those no longer here.
Cheryl Mora Robison (Diné)
Cheryl Mora Robison, Diné, was raised outside of Washington, D.C. and identifies as an URBAN INDIAN. An only child, she spent a lot of time with her Navajo grandmother and Pima grandfather who taught her to be proud of her heritage and to fight for equality. She earned a master’s degree in Sociology and worked as an advocate and social worker for almost 20 years before leaving her career to focus on her family’s small business. Cheryl mindfully bears the weight of her own trauma history and the generational trauma of her ancestors. She runs because it is one of the few things that makes her feel truly free.
+ What brought you to running? I played soccer for most of my childhood and started running regularly in high school as part of conditioning during the off-season. I would run around my neighborhood listening to a WU-TANG tape that my cousin forgot at my house and quickly fell in love with how running made me feel. Listening to music and going for a run calmed my nervous system and quieted my mind in a way that nothing else did. As a rowdy young adult, I would sometimes lose touch with running for months at a time but I would always come back to it whenever I sensed that I needed to. Even when running was difficult, I was drawn to it. I liked the challenge.
+ What was it like running the Detroit Marathon? Training for and running the Detroit Marathon was a sacred experience. I feel incredibly lucky to have shared that experience with a diverse group of BIPOC women all running our first marathon together. We were scared together, excited together, humbled together, and proud together. None of us knew what we were doing but we got to be brave together and face the challenge - each in our own way. The marathon itself was tough... I ran strong for the first 18 miles and then hit a wall. My shoes had betrayed me and my feet were in a lot of pain for those last 8 miles. But I got through it and crossed that finish line! I didn't want a stupid banana or a tin-foil blanket. I wanted that damn medal!
+ What gets you out the door to go run? I still get nervous before almost every run. I have no idea why. But what gets me out the door is knowing how good the run will feel once I start it. I love how running makes me focus on the present; putting one foot in front of the other and just breathing. When I'm running there are no other demands or distractions and when I finish a run, I feel peaceful and proud of myself in a way that I don't think I feel anywhere else in the world.
+ How'd you connect with the Prolyfyck Run Club? Soon after Littlez created the Prolyfyck Run Creww instagram account, the algorithms put it in front of me and I went to check out a run soon after. I immediately felt welcome in the space in a truly authentic way and I loved that the route we ran felt meaningful. Not only was the route especially challenging, but it went through parts of Charlottesville that were often overlooked or ignored. In addition, there was an unmatched feeling of camaraderie and joy for all to experience. Everyone was invited to push themselves outside of their comfort zone but there was no sense of competition - only community. Prolyfyck was and remains a rare space where we are all - especially people of color - invited to unapologetically show up as our entire selves.
+ What's your goal / hope for the New York City Marathon? I have run two marathons so far. The first was in Detroit, the second was in Savannah. In Detroit, my goal was simply to finish. In Savannah, my goal was simply to "do better" than I did in Detroit. I hoped to feel stronger (especially after mile 18) and finish faster - even if only by a few minutes. Even though I walked a lot more than I expected to in Savannah (it was a HOT race and I started playing it safe early on), I still finished stronger than I did in Detroit and 30 minutes faster. I think my goal for New York is the same: to simply "do better" than I did in Savannah... I hope to not walk as much and still finish feeling strong... and hopefully shave a few more minutes off my finishing time. Nothing crazy... to simply keep improving is enough for me.
Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Whetstone (Sičangu Lakota)
Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Whetstone, Lakota, is a fourth generation runner, athlete advocate, community organizer, project manager, filmmaker, founder of Rising Hearts since 2017, and a mom to a 3.5 yo and 1.5 yo 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 Rising Hearts, we have helped raise over $100,000 to help give back to MMIP organizations, families and advocates through our annual Running For Justice movement events, shirts, and webinars we’ve held.
Jordan is committed to helping make the running and community spaces a more equitable, safe, visible, supportive, diverse, inclusive, affordable and accessible place for people today and the next generations through movement, meaningful storytelling, community building and collaborations, and effective partnerships.
FUNDRAISER FOR RISING HEARTS:
Help support Indigenous runners participating in this year's 2025 New York City Marathon on November 2nd! Collectively, they hope to raise $5,000 to support the heart work of Rising Hearts! Cheryl Robison is Diné, raised outside of Washington, D.C. and identifies as an urban Indian. An only child, she spent a lot of time with her Navajo grandmother and Pima grandfather who taught her to be proud of her heritage and to fight for equality. She earned a master’s degree in Sociology and worked as an advocate and social worker for almost 20 years before leaving her career to focus on her family’s small business. Cheryl mindfully bears the weight of her own trauma history and the generational trauma of her ancestors. She runs because it is one of the few things that makes her feel truly free. And Jordan Whetstone, Lakota, Athlete Advocate, public speaker, filmmaker, and is the founder and organizer of Rising Hearts that supports the community in providing resources, community connections, and programming bringing community together meaningfully through movement, advocacy, kinship, and storytelling.
MISSION:
Rising Hearts is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to amplifying community voices through kinship, movement advocacy, and storytelling. We empower communities by fostering intersectional collaboration, promoting cultural resilience, joy and creating meaningful change for the next generations. Through our programs, we inspire collective action, elevate Indigenous and community centered narratives, creating safe and supportive spaces, continuously learn and show up how we can, and mobilize support for those in need.
Much of the heart work we prioritize is cultivating kinship with brands, companies and groups, while creating meaningful collaborations with the Rising Hearts athletes, community partners and broader movement community.
FUNDS SUPPORT:
+ Our programs, athlete advocates, speakers, teachers and events
+ Compensation for Programs Coordinator and Executive Director
+ Film projects
With every $100 donation, you’ll receive a Rising Hearts shirt!
If you donate $100, be sure to email us at info@rising-hearts.org with your shirt selection, name, mailing address and size! If not, at the end of the year, we will be checking all donation links and emails made available to us, we will email you with these requests too!
Thank you!
NEW ONE OF A KIND SINGLETS + MORE!
Yatika Starr Fields X rabbit collaboration for the New York City Marathon!
Sold exclusively at rabbit’s New York pop-up shop, we are thrilled to announce a limited-edition collection that was created in collaboration with Rising Hearts and designed by artist and ultra-runner Yatika Starr Fields. A portion of the collection’s proceeds will go directly to Rising Hearts, an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to amplifying community voices through kinship, movement advocacy, and storytelling.
