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June Newsletter
The month ahead holds multiple opportunities to get involved with RPL. Once again, our continued growth wouldn’t be possible without your support! |
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2024 Leadville Camp & Run |
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We were so excited to host our Leadville Camp & Run from June 21 - 23 in partnership with Lake County Tourism Panel, Cloud City Conservation Center and Friends of Lake County. This is the first time we've taken our Camp & Run out of state, and we decided to go to the epic town of Leadville, Colorado, which is the highest city in the U.S., surrounded by two of the tallest peaks in the Colorado Rockies, and is home to the iconic Leadville trail running series. We had such a memorable trip: 20+ trail runners joined us for three magical days of camping, trail running, and trail work. |
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If you’re less familiar with our Camp & Runs, it is a regenerative tourism program offered in partnership with local organizations that gives runners the opportunity to learn from local environmental experts, perform hands-on service projects, and generate positive economic outcomes in popular running destinations. But it wasn't all trail running and trail working: we gathered around the campfires each night, sharing stories about the lands we love; we drank delicious, local coffee each morning while watching the sun rise; ate the best locally prepared meals, and some of us plunged into nearby Turquoise Lake. We're grateful to our partners, as well as our brand coalition sponsors — Teva, Trail Butter, Best Day Brewing, GU, and more — who hooked us up with great gear and fuel for the weekend!
In total, our Camp & Run crew completed 153 service hours throughout the weekend. Our team created a new path at the Cloud City Farm, built a fence with the USFS to protect a historical landmark in the popular Halfmoon Road Recreation Area, and dismantled an staggering 65+ illegal backcountry fire rings in the San Isabel National Forest. Thank you to all who participated and contributed to this event. We can't wait to plan the next Camp & Run. |
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A staff picture on the summit of Mt. Elber the day before Camp & Run began. Vic and Kat got Bretty his first 14er! |
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Trail Work Series: Colorado |
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| The good work continues! Our Trail Work Series events have been continuing in full force: on June 20, 15+ runners gathered at South Table Mountain for a day of trail restoration. At South Table Mountain, our volunteers closed about 150 feet of trail braid, seeded around 300 square feet with native grass/wildflower seed, planted 15 native shrubs, built a check dam, and planted quite a few large rocks to help with drainage. |
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Trail Work Series: Indiana |
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| This month, we also gathered on June 20th for an event in Indiana Dunes National Park. Twelve volunteers attended this work party. The educational focus of the event was native and invasive plants. The group covered a work area of 3,000 sq ft and hauled an incredible 12 cubic yards of dirt/clay/sand mixture via wheelbarrow across the trail. Half of which was hauled nearly ¼ mile of distance! |
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Our next Trail Work Series event in Indiana will occur on July 18th, focusing on “Invasive Species Treatment” and with an educational emphasis of why we need to remove woody invasive species. Sign up here! |
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| For those in the San Diego area, Coastal Run Club and Runners for Public Lands will be attending a beach clean-up party on July 5th, sponsored by Las Olas. If you didn’t know this already, July 5th tends to have the most trash on our trails and beaches because of the celebrations that take place on the 4th. Come join us to help clean up, take care of our favorite public spaces, and learn more about the work RPL is doing in San Diego and beyond. You can sign up for the clean-up party here. |
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Policy Work: Exploring the EXPLORE Act
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With the summer season upon us, countless runners and outdoor enthusiasts are taking to public lands and waters for recreation. As the number of Americans enjoying these spaces grows each year, there is a significant opportunity to enhance the management of our favorite outdoor spaces, safeguarding our beloved landscapes while enriching outdoor experiences.
This spring a pivotal moment was reached as the US House of Representatives unanimously approved the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act (EXPLORE Act), marking a significant step forward for a comprehensive set of proposed outdoor recreation-focused laws. If the US Senate follows suit, it will signal a historic bipartisan effort to enhance outdoor recreation across public lands and waters. Among the diverse activities addressed in the act, trail runners and road runners stand to benefit from specific provisions.
You can help this effort by contacting your US Senators and advocating for this much-needed policy reforms to enhance outdoor recreation access. The voices of trail runners can play a vital role in advancing this legislation.
See our article on our website in full. |
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Community Runs x 3 with Patagonia |
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| In June, our Community Runs with Patagonia expanded into Boulder, Colorado! We now have three monthly Community Runs with Patagonia: Ventura, San Diego, and now Boulder. For those of you looking to add a little splash of community to your running routines, join RPL for one of our monthly gatherings. All paces and distances are welcome. Curious to know what these runs look like? You can see a reel from our June run here. |
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The above image is of our Ventura Community Run, which took place at Harmon Canyon |
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Wander Project: Charity Bibs |
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We wanted to thank all the runners registering for charity bibs to support RPL! We have partnered with the Wander Project to offer charity bibs for four races in the year ahead. These charity bibs act as free entry into one of our partner events in exchange for raising awareness and funds for RPL. Sign up for a charity bib and check out the upcoming races below, including the newest race addition, Cocodona 250! |
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Good luck to Mensah at Mt. Rainier Half! |
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Join us in cheering on Mensah Bey, one of our 2024 ERF Recipients, who will be doing the Mt. Rainier Half Marathon in July! In case you missed it, Mensah Bey was selected as one of our 2024 Everyone Runs Fund recipients. You can see our feature on Mensah here, which shares a little bit about what running means to him and why he chose the Mt. Rainier Half Marathon as his ERF race. We can’t wait to hear how the race goes (and see some beautiful pictures of the course!). Run well, Mensah! |
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Thank you for your continual support as our organization continues to grow. We look forward to the year ahead and many meaningful miles shared on the trails! |
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