[Editor’s Note: It’s iRunFar’s “Week of Awesome!” Each day this week, we’re bringing you something awesome from the wide worlds of trail running and ultrarunning. Someone to follow, something to learn, or a story to be inspired by, our hope is to add a spark to your day. Let us know in the comments section what you think of this little project, and if you’d like to see more of this on iRunFar.]
“Unfenced: A Race to Keep the Red Desert Wild” is a 10-minute film about the natural history of and energy-development issues facing Wyoming’s Red Desert as well as Run the Red, a trail race developed to help win the figurative race to conserve the region. The film is presented by Patagonia and features Red Desert biologist John Mionczynski, Run the Red organizer and Red Desert advocate Shaleas Harrison, and ultrarunner and activist Clare Gallagher.
About the Red Desert, Gallagher says, “The Red Desert inspires me because it’s hours away from my home, but it feels like another world. Animals like the mule deer and pronghorn antelope, and ancestral and present influences by the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone make up this wild landscape. I’m inspired to run in places where I learn and expand my perspective.”
To learn more about this story and get involved, visit the nonprofit Citizens for the Red Desert’s website and check out the Run the Red race–including signing up for the 2021 edition. Thank you to all the storytellers on this project for this window into such an awesome wild place!
