This week, we’re giving the editorial keys to Austin Corbett, who is an RPL Ambassador based in Flagstaff, AZ.
My name is Austin, I grew up in the deserts of Phoenix, AZ but migrated north to the pine trees of Flagstaff, AZ almost 9 years ago where I fell in love with trail running, the Flagstaff community, and the landscapes I get to explore on the Colorado Plateau. My passion for running started in 2018 with my first road half marathon, but I quickly discovered the trails and have dedicated myself to finding the limits of my endurance, culminating in a finish at the 2024 Cocodona 250. Through my journey into trail running, I’ve also discovered a strong desire to protect the places that I get to run and explore, which has led me to becoming a Runners for Public Lands ambassador, a role I’m very proud to hold!
On Earth Day, we hosted a group run in Flagstaff, in collaboration with Peak Trail Runners, to gather the community in support of protecting public lands. We had 14 runners attend and they all signed post cards with a pre-written message advocating for public lands that were addressed to both Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego and Senator Mark Kelly. Through this run and sharing it among the wider community, we were able to get over 50 postcards signed and we will be dropping those in the mail soon. The postcards are an effective way to get runners to take action and it only takes a few minutes of their time. It’s exciting that RPL will be providing more opportunities for runners to write postcards to their lawmakers at running races and run club gatherings for the remainder of 2025!
Later week, we followed up our run and advocacy work with a run community trail work event. The 2025 Flagstaff Trail Work Series kicked off on April 24th with 6 volunteers and 3 Forest Service Trail Crew members. The group cleared drainages, leveled the trail in spots where it had eroded and cleared general debris along the Taawa trail, a foot traffic only trail in the Dry Lake Hills area. The work was quick and efficient, covering about 2 miles of trail, but now these drainages will be able to handle the spring moisture and keep the trails in good condition for longer. The next Flagstaff Trail Work event is Thursday, May 29th from 3-6 pm at the Schultz Creek trailhead.
Interested in learning more about Trail Work Program? See here. You can also see a list of our upcoming events below:
- 5/13: Colorado Trail Work Series: Mt Falcon
- 5/15: Indiana Trail Work Series: Tolleston Dunes
- 5/18: Santa Barbara Trail Work Series: Front Country Trails
- 5/29: Flagstaff Trail Work Series: Schultz Creek
- 6/3: Colorado Trail Work Series: Matthews/Winters
- 6/11: Santa Barbara Trail Work Series: Lizard’s Mouth
- 6/12: Indiana Trail Work Series: Bailly Homestead Trails
- 6/24: Colorado Trail Work Series: South Table Mountain
- 7/17: Indiana Trail Work Series: Glenwood Dunes
- 8/14: Indiana Trail Work Series: Wetlands Restoration