10 Runners | 275 miles | NYC - DC | December 18 - December 21
Logo and graphic design by Max Maronde
The Movement is an anti-authoritarian, ultra-marathon demonstration starting in New York City and finishing in Washington D.C.
From December 18th to December 21st, 10 runners will attempt to run the 275 mile route while mobilizing the public to continue to fight for our civil liberties and justice for all.
Each runner represents a specific issue that has been affected by the current authoritarian presidential administration (while recognizing this issue does not end with the current administration) such as climate justice, racial justice, human and civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, prison reform, immigration rights and ICE/DHS resistance, etc.
Along the route, the team will cover 5 US states; New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Our goal is to engage with communities along the route by working with local organizations to lead demonstrations, sit-ins and rallies. Anyone and everyone is welcome to follow the project, support the cause and join the fight.
Our rights, our planet, our future and our neighbors are in danger. The time to care is now, the time to act is now.
“To document this project and create a lasting legacy of its mission, a filmmaker and crew will be following along, capturing each runner’s story and each brutal mile. The demonstration will be turned into a documentary that will hopefully educate and inspire others to take action.
Your donation will go towards our organizing fund (which will help us put on events throughout our trek to DC, helping local community orgs in the fight against injustice) and our film budget. This our our main financial requirement. In order to properly document this project, we are working with skilled professionals who require equipment and pay! If you can, please consider donating and help bring this project to life and hopefully create a lasting and meaningful impact. Thank you ❤️”
Meet the Team!
“I’m Joe Blanchet, a content creator and hybrid athlete using running as a form of resistance. My work challenges mainstream ideas of fitness and masculinity while exposing how politics, power, and privilege shape who gets access to health and movement. I also work full time in the fitness wearables tech industry.
As a biracial son of an immigrant, I’ve come to understand that America was not built for people like me, despite being built by people like me. Through my work and this project, I’m running to promote social and racial justice and to make health and fitness accessible and equitable for everyone.
I believe in people over profit and communities over corporations. No system or administration should have the ability to deny anyone their basic human rights, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or what they believe.
Joining The Movement was not a choice—it was a responsibility.
I have a platform and I have the ability to run, and I intend to put both to use. I’m running to confront the systems that divide and oppress us, to amplify the voices too often ignored, and to prove that running is not just physical—it’s political.”
“Hey there! My name is Jillian Calero, I’m an OBGYN physician assistant in NYC and I love to run. It actually wasn’t until 1972 that women were allowed to run a marathon, because race coordinators believed it was unsafe for people who had a uterus- so now I’m exercising my ability to run long distances to run to DC. I’m running for women’s rights and our reproductive rights. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, states have been making it increasingly more difficult for women to get access to reproductive care. Yes, getting access to a surgical and medical abortion in states like Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia is illegal- but now medical schools in those areas aren’t even allowed to teach about the medications involved in these procedures. This gap in medical education is leaving female patients vulnerable to more than just inability to obtain an abortion- these medications also prevent and treat postpartum hemorrhage, and even assist with induction of labor. Funding for Planned Parenthood has taken a hit, which not only provides prenatal care, but also preventive screening for cervical cancer and other life threatening diseases that are unique to women. This administration, or any administration, should have no say in women’s reproductive freedom, which is why I’m joining the project”
Hi! I’m Mary Grace Nimmer, a student in health policy and a firm believer that healthcare is a human right. My work focuses on how policy shapes people’s ability to live healthy, dignified, and free lives.
Right now, we’re facing serious threats to health justice. Deep cuts to Medicaid, new restrictions on Medicare, and skyrocketing marketplace premiums are stripping millions of people of coverage. At the same time, funding for nutrition programs like SNAP has been slashed, pulling away the supports that keep people healthy and fed. These aren’t just policy shifts, they’re choices that take doctors, medications, and financial stability away from real people.
These choices reflect a broader authoritarian pattern: consolidating power, restricting information, and dismantling the social programs that keep people free and healthy. When leaders make healthcare unaffordable and gut safety nets, they’re not balancing budgets. They’re taking away people’s freedom to move, live, and thrive.
Running, to me, is freedom. It is freedom of body, mind, time, and movement, and that freedom is shaped by policy. Access to affordable healthcare, safe outdoor spaces, and economic stability are all political conditions. When those in power push people into poverty, take away their healthcare, or criminalize their identities, they’re also taking away their freedom to move through the world.
Health is political, but it shouldn’t be partisan. And standing up for one another isn’t radical. It’s the minimum. That’s why I’m running with The Movement: because healthcare is a human right, and I’m running to fight for it.
I’m Matt Bourland, a runner, writer, and humanist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Growing up in the Midwest, the cycles of outside investment, the greenwashing of industries, and the environmental consequences of industrial manufacturing shaped the world around me. I see climate change, the destruction of land, the forced removal of Native peoples, genocide, surveillance capitalism, and authoritarianism as issues that touch everyone.
A great privilege and joy of my life has been traveling and meeting people whose lived experiences are different from mine. I have connected with refugees, worked in agriculture, and observed a kind of universal humanity that gives me faith in others. Regardless of the conditions one is born into, everyone deserves access to nutritious food, clean water, education, healthcare, affordable housing, and green space.
In this moment, collective action and grassroots organizing are essential to ensure the rights and safety of our neighbors. A better world is possible: one of abundance, access, and the preservation of beautiful landscapes and traditions. I grew up in Neenah, Wisconsin, a town built on Ho-Chunk land. The name “Neenah” itself means running water. I’m running with The Movement to demonstrate that authoritarianism and its ripple effects are visible everywhere and that everyone has a role in protecting other people and the land that gives us life.
I’m Natalia Chieko Arai, born and raised in the South Bronx. This Thanksgiving weekend—a time when we celebrate family while ignoring that the first Thanksgiving marked the beginning of Indigenous genocide—I joined a community run in Brooklyn supporting food pantries that have kept neighbors fed through harsh SNAP cuts. After the run, I learned ICE was planning another raid in Chinatown. I couldn’t just go home and warm up leftovers. That day, 18 of us were arrested for protesting the terrorizing of our community.
Chinatown is all of us—Asian American, Black, Latino, and everyone in between. And on that day, we protected our people. Zero raids took place. Strangers moved together with one heart to stop injustice and shout for the voiceless. We were beaten, body-slammed, bloodied.
In an ice-cold cell, all I could think about were families ripped from their homes, taken at work or school, thrown into cages with no hope of due process. I thought of my father—one of 120,000 Japanese Americans labeled “enemy aliens,” American citizens dragged from their homes into horse stalls and then to desert detention centers. He endured blistering heat, freezing nights, and a lifetime of damage after having his tonsils ripped out, his healing delayed by relentless sandstorms. I thought of my mother, who as a young girl fled El Salvador’s government-led state violence and death squads that stole people from their beds at night—many never returned.
I grew up with a hunger for justice and a clear understanding of the intersectionality of systemic oppression. I learned about the mutual aid groups that fed and protected our communities when the government looked away. I learned the power of cross-cultural solidarity. Movements are born from resistance. And for me, as a martial artist and a runner, movement is a vehicle for empowerment—rejecting the idea that these spaces are not meant for us.
After the murder of George Floyd, during the height of BLM and anti-Asian violence, I saw running and biking protests turn ordinary people into a unified force. Shoulder to shoulder, we moved as an act of resistance—refusing to be silenced or erased. We biked through every borough to show that even when our government’s moral compass fails, we still have a duty to stand up. Ahmaud Arbery’s murder—killed while running, killed for being Black—was another reminder that simply moving through this world can be an act of defiance.
Running has transformed me. I’m slower than average and don’t fit the stereotypical runner mold, but as an ASICS Sound Mind, Sound Body ambassador, I’ve shown up across NYC to inspire new runners and uplift community. Representation matters. Community matters.
The parallels between Japanese American camps and ICE detention centers are impossible to ignore. This is history repeating itself.
My name is Dante Hatem, and I reside in Buffalo, New York. I am employed as a pediatric critical care nurse at the Children’s Hospital, where I provide care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and emergency department (ED).
My primary passion lies in assisting the sick, vulnerable, impoverished, and marginalized individuals. During my nursing school years, my peers and I embarked on a humanitarian trip to Peru, where we endeavored to provide healthcare to remote communities.
Surrounding oneself with individuals who advocate for global equity is what brings me immense joy and purpose in life. Additionally, I am an amateur runner, triathlete, and running coach. I have mentored numerous athletes with diverse goals, ranging from competing at the world stage in Ironman to achieving a Boston qualifier time or simply completing their first half marathon. This has been one of my greatest accomplishments.
I have personally completed the Boston Marathon twice, setting a personal best time of 2:38:45 in Chicago 2025. Furthermore, I have participated in the Ironman 70.3 world championships and two full Ironmans.
Endurance holds significant importance to me for several reasons. Firstly, it embodies health and well-being. I embarked on my journey in 2019 when I transitioned from the medical ICU and recognized the paramount importance of prioritizing my health for longevity. Additionally, endurance served as a coping mechanism during my time as a COVID-19 ICU nurse.
Secondly, my Palestinian roots play a profound role in my motivations. My grandmother, whom I called Teta, is from Jerusalem and possesses Levantine DNA. She immigrated to the United States in the 1940s during a period of Palestinian displacement. The enduring hardships and sacrifices endured by Palestinians while maintaining their kindness and grace towards humanity have inspired me to run.
Furthermore, I am deeply concerned about the current administration’s policies, which have failed humanity by diverting 20 billion dollars of U.S. taxpayer funds towards fueling a genocide rather than investing in our own people’s future. This compelled me to take action and run for the people of Palestine.
A Week for the World 