We . . .
at Run Tucson have been committed to using running to make our communities better places to live.

We continue that commitment: using the sport of running to bring people together, using sport to raise the human spirit.

But current events remind us that not everyone can run or jog or even walk in safety, without fear.

Current events remind us that sport is but one part of a well-lived and virtuous life.

Current events remind us that running in safety on community trails and public roadways is a human right.

Current events remind us that running without threat of murder is a human right.

Current events remind us that safety is a human right -- and that all of us have a commitment to ensuring that human right.

We at Run Tucson pledge to strengthen our efforts at ensuring human rights for all.
Hello again to the Run Tucson community.

Normally, we would be knee-deep in final preparations for the TMC Meet Me Downtown Night Run -- ensuring that the beer garden and jumping castles and bands were all ready to go, and checking that we had the police and ambulances on hand for community safety. Normally, we'd be lining up the 200 volunteers who would help the 3,000 plus participants run and walk on a Saturday night in Downtown Tucson. Normally, we'd be gearing up for an event that has raised over $200,000 for local charities.

But this is not a normal time. This year, we're getting ready to hand out shirts and medals for a virtual event -- a run where people stay apart while still trying to come together to celebrate the sport of running and our hometown.

But this is not a normal time. Past months and recent days have seen a litany of difficulty, not just for the running community but for so many members of our national community. Not only are we trying to manage ourselves in the midst of an international pandemic that has killed over 100,000 people in America, but we've been grappling with the many-sided issue of race in America.

We said above that we pledge to strengthen our efforts at ensuring human rights for all. Over the past weeks, we've talked with runners in 27 different states and in 6 different countries about running and race, about running and gender, about running and safety . We listened to our friends at the National Black Marathoners Association and Black Girls Run; we've listened to our Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O'Odham tribal friends.

Based on these many conversations, below is a list of things we as runners can do for our community of runners and walkers.

With much gratitude for the strength of our running and walking communities,

Tia and Randy

Randy Accetta [email protected]
Tia Accetta [email protected]

Runners are people of action, so whether wildcats, bumble bees, or roadrunners, there are things we as runners can act on:

** Actively recruit new charity partners for the fundraising aspect of races so that new communities get engaged with our wonderful sport;

** On social media, follow people and communities that we have not regularly followed (communities of color, adaptive athletic run clubs, and so on) with the goal of learning what other people are feeling and talking about;

** Invite a more diverse set of guest speakers to speak at our running social events;

** Hold events in new and different race locations to engage with and highlight different communities;

** Offer land acknowledgments, including by pre-race announcements and maps, to recognize that race routes take place on tribal and indigenous lands;

** Actively recruit Board members from multiple communities and different voices for strategic planning;

** Actively engage with younger runners of color so they stay in the sport after youth and high school years;

** Actively engage with the LGBT communities, perhaps including a third gender category in race registration forms;

** Actively engage with the adaptive athletic community, including additional racing categories;

** Develop a broad list of contacts so that news about upcoming events, news about needs, and news about successes can be shared across communities;

** Finally, on a personal level, we can be nice -- introduce ourselves to strangers, smile, say hello, invite people to run or walk, talk about running and life, and share this beautiful world with others.
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