Mass Movement

Running Medicine Program to Host 1,000th Meetup

The Running Medicine program, which hosts weekly gatherings where people of all ages run and walk together, is about to celebrate its 1,000^th meetup.

About 100 participants are expected to gather for the event on Saturday, Feb. 4, from 9 to 10 a.m. at Los Duranes Park, 2920 Leopoldo Rd. NW.

“We will use the park and the adjacent Bosque Bike Trail,” said Running Medicine co-founder Anthony Fleg, MD, associate professor in the UNM Department of Family & Community Medicine and director of Community Wellness in the Health Sciences Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “Newcomers are very much welcome to attend.

Running Medicine was founded in 2016 as a program of the Native Health Initiative in the belief that movement is medicine for mind, body and spirit. It promotes a culture of wellness through regular activity.

Running Medicine meetups, which can draw upwards of 100 participants, are scheduled from spring through fall at locations like UNM’s North Golf Course, Rio Rancho/Westside and the Alameda Open Space in the Rio Grande bosque. The program also operates at Zuni Pueblo, the pueblos of Acoma and Laguna and Algodones Elementary School, adjacent to San Felipe Pueblo.

Competition is not the point. Each event starts with participants standing in a circle and stretching together. Some people run, others walk and a few even do yoga or high-intensity tactical training workouts.

“You can be in a wheelchair. You can be a baby being pushed in a stroller,” Fleg said.

Running Health receives significant support from UNM Health and Health Sciences, as well as local businesses and community groups, he said. You can learn more about Running Medicine here.