Kaila White

The Republic | azcentral.com

A Prescott Valley teenager is behind what could be one of the largest protests against the Dakota Access pipeline to date.

Riley Ortega is a 15-year-old sophomore at Bradshaw Mountain High School and a cross-country runner. He is Hopi, from the Tewa village and the Spider Clan.

Soon, he will be among the many Native Americans and activists across the country who are protesting the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, a $3.7 billion project that would transport crude oil more than 1,100 miles from North Dakota to Illinois.

"I feel really sad and really kind of angry, because the pipeline, it’s already destroyed a lot of sacred burial grounds," Ortega said Monday. "It makes me sad that the ancestors had built that and were buried, but now they're being dug up."

Although he describes himself as quiet and "not really the adventurous type," he decided the best way he could protest the pipeline is to run to it.

Q&A: The 4-state, $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline

With the help of organizers, volunteers and his parents, Ortega has organized a 1,400-mile relay run called Perseverance for Preservation from Flagstaff to a protest site in Cannonball, North Dakota. The relay run starts Oct. 28.

Dozens of runners, many from Native American nations and tribes across the country, are joining Ortega to take turns on a run they hope will draw attention to the issue and change the course of the controversy.

The reason: Water is life

More than 100 people have been arrested while protesting the pipeline in North Dakota, including actress Shailene Woodley and journalist Amy Goodman, but most are from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Like many protesters, Ortega's top concern is that the pipeline could contaminate the drinking-water supply if it leaks or breaks.

"We’ve raised our children to stand up for what is right and be a powerful voice for those who can’t speak on their own," Ortega's mother, Lori Ortega, said. "The intention to help preserve Mother Earth for generations is an amazing thing to come from a person as young as he is."

Runners from across the country

More than 20 people plan to take turns running 24 hours a day for a little more than eight days, making sure there is at least one person running at all times for the full 1,400 miles.

Among them is Riley Ortega's cousin, Steven Poolheco, who is running to honor his late father, Dennis "Danny" Poolheco, who was an Arizona ultra-running legend before he was killed in June 2015 in a car crash.

Runners will join them along the way, including people from the Yavapai-Apache Nation, Zuni Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation and others.

Six runners from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota will join them in Flagstaff. They are from the Oceti Sakowin Youth group, which completed a 2,000-mile relay run from North Dakota to Washington, D.C., in August to deliver a petition to stop construction on the pipeline.

Once the group reaches the Navajo Nation, six Navajo ultramarathon runners will join them.

A group from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, plans to meet up with them that Monday and finish the race with them.

A law student from Cornell University told them she plans to drive 10 hours to meet up with them in Spearfish, North Dakota, to run.

"The more, the merrier," Lori Ortega said, welcoming anyone to join them along the route. Anyone interested in joining the run can email PerseveranceForPreservation@gmail.com.

How it will work

The relay is along quieter roads in Flagstaff; Kayenta, a small town on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona's northeast corner; Crescent Junction, Utah; Meeker, Colorado; Rawlins and Midwest in Wyoming; Spearfish and Isabel in South Dakota; and ending in Cannonball, North Dakota.

The Ortegas are renting a 30-foot RV so runners can eat, sleep and rest. They had raised $4,200 as of Monday night, through GoFundMe and various fundraisers such as a bingo night, to pay for the RV, gas and food for the runners. Click here to donate to the GoFundMe account.

People will take turns driving the RV slowly near the runners, who can start and stop as they need. Riley Ortega said he can easily run 10 miles at a time and plans to repeat it throughout the relay as he can.

One plan he is sure of: dressing up as Forrest Gump on Halloween. The group posted that runners should get their "beards and short shorts ready!"

Sacrificing for a cause

Ortega is missing two cross-country tournaments for the run: a sectional meet the day he leaves, and the state tournament the day he's set to arrive at the protest.

"The gifts for humanity are more important than state cross-country," Ortega said. He is an honors student in accelerated courses, and plans to request all of his homework to take with him and do on the trip.

"What is motivating me is I hope I bring hope to the people in Standing Rock, to let them know we support them and we can uplift their spirits as winter sets in," he said.

How you can meet the runners

A send-off is planned for Riley Ortega and the crew at the starting line on the Northern Arizona University campus on Oct. 28. A 5 a.m. blessing is planned, and spectators can join with the runners for a march on the first mile of the journey.