Don’t Celebrate Global Running Day. Run for Something Bigger.
Looking for ways to put extra meaning behind your miles? These resources can help you take action.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Global Running Day has always served as a way to inspire new people to take up running, to celebrate the ways it makes our lives healthier and happier. As the nation continues to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and protest systemic racism in communities large and small, we hope that runners won’t just stop at lacing up—we hope they will attach extra purpose and action to their miles.
On June 3, runners around the world are asked to run mile for somebody who inspires them and tag a friend on social media to do the same, using the hashtags #Run1Tag1 and #GlobalRunningDay. But as New York Road Runners shared on social media Wednesday, “Today is not a day to celebrate.” We encourage everybody participating, if you’re able, to take it one step farther by donating to a nonprofit organization that is supporting demonstrators. We’ve listed a few options below, but we know that every community includes worthy organizations doing important work. Find one that matters to you and give what you can.
At Women’s Running, we stand in solidarity with all who are fighting for racial justice. We know that our sport needs to do much better at including and welcoming black runners and runners of color at all levels—and improve the ways in which we tell their stories, too. We will continue to work harder to do our part.
Now more than ever, running has the power to heal and unite. We hope you find this Global Running Day especially meaningful and it motivates us all to take genuine and sustained action with greater understanding, compassion, and humanity.
READ MORE: Speak Up, Speak Out: A Wish for U.S. Running From a Black Marathoner
Organizations You Can Donate to Today
Support Reclaim the Block’s work to make sure that our communities have the resources they need to thrive. This grassroots group is up against the deep pockets of the Minneapolis police union, and it needs your support.
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.
This link makes it easy to split donations to bail funds across the country, including the Philadelphia Bail Fund and Chicago Community Bond Fund.
Support advocacy for policy solutions to end police violence in America.
Be a part of the Innocence Project’s groundbreaking work to free innocent people and transform the legal system. With your support, it can do even more in 2020.
This fund is established to cover funeral and burial expenses, mental and grief counseling, lodging and travel for all court proceedings, and to assist George Floyd’s family in the days to come as they continue to seek justice for George. A portion of these funds will also go to the Estate of George Floyd for the benefit and care of his children and their educational fund.
Each day, tens of thousands of LGBTQ people are held in jail or immigration detention because they cannot afford bail—for immigration status or charges like sleeping in public. With your help, the Freedom Fund posts bail to secure their release and safety.
Nonprofit media collective dedicated to exposing the root causes of social, economic, and environmental issues.
Minnesota-based black, trans, and queer-led organization committed to dismantling systems of oppression and violence.
Colin Kaepernick founded this organization that holds education seminars across the country for black and brown youth. Know Your Rights Camp teamed up with defense lawyers in the Minneapolis area to help provide legal resources for those in Minnesota in need right now.
Fair Fight, founded by Stacey Abrams, promotes fair elections by bringing voter discrimination to light with education programs and election reform advocacy.
Loveland Foundation is committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on black women and girls.
Black Lives Matter Foundation is a global organization in the U.S., United Kingdom, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for black imagination and innovation, and centering black joy, BLM is winning immediate improvements in our lives.
The Feeding America network is the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. Together with individuals, charities, businesses, and government the mission is to end hunger.