When faced with Donald Trump’s plans to destroy areas of astounding beauty and cultural significance, an eclectic group of runners and Native Americans joined together to have their voices heard

When an eclectic group of ultra-runners and members of the Navajo Nation were faced with Donald Trump’s plans to destroy their natural playground, they protested in the only way they could – they ran.



If you asked the average runner what they enjoy most about their weekend runs they would probably all say something slightly different. But when you delve far enough under the surface, it all boils down to the same elusive concept: freedom. And nothing symbolises the liberating thrill of connecting to nature more than running through the panoramic expanses of Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments.

So, when Donald Trump announced plans to sweep all of this away in the largest elimination of public land in US history, the obvious thing for runners and film-makers Johnie Gall, Andy Cochrane and Greg Balkin to do was to bring everyone together and run across it in six mile relays – all 250 miles of it – in a single weekend. The result is one of the most inspirational and unique environmental protest films you’re likely to see.

“The idea was to use something we love – running – to celebrate the area and the immense cultural significance woven into it,” explains Cochrane. “We wanted to explore south-eastern Utah first-hand and build a relationship with the canyons, towers, mesas and the dirt, to better understand why the land – and places like it across the country – should stay public and protected.”



And besides from their passion for the sport, Gall feels running is the perfect way to illustrate this.

“When you have to carry your body across an entire landscape, you appreciate it differently. The speed of running allows you to see all kinds of nooks and crannies that you wouldn’t otherwise, but it’s still fast enough to cover a lot of ground quickly. In 30 hours, we covered 250 miles from the east side of Bears Ears to the far end of Grand Staircase-Escalante.”

And with some of the most challenging ultra-running trails in the world, it’s also no surprise that the project attracted everyone from the world’s most formidable elite athletes to people who simply love pursuing the childlike wonder that you can only get from such an unforgiving landscape.

“The group of 17 runners are all friends and friends of friends. The outdoor industry is a pretty small place once you’re in it”, Balkin says. “Andy’s biggest passion is trail running and he’s fortunate to have a big network of runners that he was able to tap into, from Olympians and professional runners to more casual, recreational runners to Navajo runners who consider it a big part of their history.”

The Navajo have worshipped and lived off the land between the two monuments for centuries. There are more than 100,000 Native American archaeological and cultural sites in the area – which are still considered sacred by the ancestors of the tribes who worshipped here. As you would expect, they too have been tirelessly campaign to protect the area. In July 2015, leaders from five area tribes founded the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition – a consortium of sovereign tribal nations – to make the case for conserving the Bears Ears cultural landscape.



“We have a Navajo friend named Len Necefer who is a pretty vocal member of the outdoor industry,” says Gall. “When the idea for the relay came up, we reached out to him to talk about how we could bring a strong Navajo voice to the story. He was stoked and helped recruit a few Navajo runners for the project. We learned so much from them during the run and have continued to do so since.”

Far from sitting back with their feet in ice buckets, all three film-makers continue to dedicate themselves to the wilderness. It’s a way of living that sometimes flippantly earns them the nickname of ‘Dirtbags’. But Cochrane doesn’t mind.

“Dirtbag is a term of endearment in the outdoor world. It was first used to describe pioneering rock climbers of decades past – guys who would live in tents and eat cat food to have the freedom to pursue rock climbing year-round. All three of us and some of our runners have lived in vans, buses, trucks or tents at some point or another, pursuing our passions.”

And as long as the great open spaces we treasure continue to resist the destructive forces of development, we should probably be thankful for all the ‘Dirtbags’ championing our running trails.