New Documentary Puts the Spotlight on Native American Runners
Can high schoolers living on New Mexico's Navajo reservation use distance running to beat the odds and earn a scholarship to a prestigious college?
Run to the East Trailer from Run to the East on Vimeo.
A new film about young Native American distance runners is now making the rounds at film festivals across the country. (See trailer, above.) Run to the East tells the stories of three high school seniors living on New Mexico’s Navajo reservation in an effort to answer one question: Can these young adults use distance running to beat the odds and earn a scholarship to a prestigious college?
The odds they face are the rampant drug use, alcoholism, violence, diabetes and substandard education that plague the reservation. Running can help change the young adults’ futures. As the film’s website says, “Endurance running has long been a key spiritual element of Native American cultures—one through which individuals can demonstrate strength and resilience.”
The 87-minute documentary is playing on Friday at 6:45 p.m. and on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the Indie Spirit Film Festival in Colorado Springs. Tickets to the festival are available here.
I’ll keep you updated on when the film will be more easily available to view.
Read the original New York Times article that inspired the film.