Messengers - A Film

February 5, 2018 Jillian Rash

On December 4, 2017, President Trump declared a drastic reduction of Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments. This is the largest elimination of protected land in American history…and the President had made his decision without ever stepping foot there. On January 13, 2018, we gathered a group of friends and ran 250 miles across both monuments in a single weekend to see for ourselves what would be left protected. Now more than ever we believe in celebrating the things that unite us. Our run was about finding commonalities in the midst of a divisive political landscape and standing in coalescence— tribal members, athletes, dirtbags — for our public lands. We hope our footsteps carry a message: wild places are worth protecting, and sometimes the first step in doing that is to take another. To learn more about the run, visit www.messengersrun.com Producers: Andy Cochrane Johnie Gall Greg Balkin DP/Editor: Greg Balkin Music: Cleod9 Music (http://www.cleod9music.com/) Runners: Andy Cochrane Magda Boulet Clare Gallagher Len Necefer Sheyenne Lewis Jorge Moreno Katie Boué Gil Levy Carolyn Morse Alice Baker Craig Prendergast Lenny Strnad Brianna Madia Keith Madia Wyatt Roscoe Maggie George Daniel McLaughlin Dogs: Bea Bucket Dagwood Chaco Gizmo Special Thanks to: Patagonia Cleod9 Music Borrowlenses Nativesoutdoors Karl Scherzberg Bureau of Land Management The Navajo, Paiute, Goshute, Shoshone, and Ute Tribes

I'm not an ultra runner, nor am I even a trail runner. I more or less do this weird combination of walking/running/ skipping/crawling when I'm on a trail. But, my trail time is important to me, maybe just as much so as fishing. It may be because it's my alone time in the woods or maybe it's because for the five or ten minutes that I do run, I kind of feel like superwoman.

What I am is very passionate about Public Lands.