It's 8pm on a Wednesday night at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. The full moon hangs low over the buildings, and a sundry of runners have begun to gather. Boyle Heights Bridge Runners (BHBR) isn't your typical elitist Los Angeles running group. Their Facebook page states they welcome all levels of runners, and a quick pan of the scene finds women and men of all ages, colors, and shapes filling the plaza. Newcomers are easy to spot with their feet shuffling at the edges of the square while core Bridge Runners encourage everyone to move in and come together.We're about community here. We aren't into clicks, Lizette Perez, BHBR core member and group stretch leader, is proud to say. When Lizette leads the group stretches, she begins by encouraging runners to move to another location in the circle and to introduce themselves to the people next to them. On this Wednesday, everyone obliges, and one man, a Proyecto Jardin gardener, openly offers he joined the weekly meetup to show support for the Bridge Runners who organized a solidarity run to the community garden in a previous week.
That was a cool run, says Perez, because the garden is between an industrial building and two homes, so most people don't even know there is a community garden here. She wears a Proyecto Jardin t-shirt and says she rushed over from a community meeting. The Jardin farmers, including Perez, are currently in a lease dispute with the garden's landowner, White Memorial Hospital.
A group of Boyle Heights Bridge Runners trained and represented at the Los Angeles Marathon. Photo courtesy of Boyle Heights Bridge Runners.
She mentions the lack of open space in Boyle Heights and encroaching gentrification. Rolando Cruz, another core Boyle Heights Bridge Runner, speaks to the community's concern with gentrification when asked about the running group's growing popularity within Boyle Heights and beyond. People will always be welcome, [but] we also understand that its a delicate time for the neighborhood, and we are very conscious about battles taking place over open spaces We dont shy away from those issues, but for the most part, the runs are dedicated to empowering the community for individuals in the community and people from the greater Los Angeles area. For Myra Vasquez, core Amigas Who Run founder, running can be a personal act of pride: There are people who run sometimes who are like, I didn't know this mural is here,' or Wow, look how beautiful this garden is.' Running where you live is a way of embracing your roots. I know the feeling when I'm running, and I'm like I live here. This is where my children live. This is where I met all these people. There is a special connection.
--
--
Vasquez and other women runners within the Boyle Heights Bridge Runners are currently preparing for their second annual Amigas Who Run, an action of solidarity with women athletes and activists worldwide, on Saturday, March 13th.
The name for the event came out of the hashtag #amigaswhorun created by co-founder, Elisa Garcia. When you run with your friends, Vasquez explains, it is something extra special and therapeutic to your soul. It's something that empowers you, like when you meet your comadre. It's getting together with your sister, your comadre, your aunt.
The importance of these relationships among women is highlighted in th Boyle Heights Project, a study conducted in 2013 by the East Los Angeles Women's Center and funded by the California Endowment, and the role comadres and promotoras play within the community. The study states: A Promotora is a trusted community member who can effectively create change building trust and breaking silences within communities. The Promotora concept existed as a culturally specific model that recognized that a great part of learning among the Latino community occurs through conversation and interaction with friends, family members, and comadres. Within Latino culture, comadres are women friends who may assist in the raising of children as godmothers, share advice and insights about women s roles and lives in the community, and generally serve as a support network for women.
Founders of Amigas Who Run at Espacio 1849. Photo Courtesy of the Boyle Heights Bridge Runners
For Vasquez, a mother, licensed childcare provider and community promotora, this run is about reclaiming women's health. Health nowadays is colonized, like doctors know everything, [but in the past] our doctors were our grandmothers, curanderas, herbalists, la sobadora. These were all women, and I feel like we're born healers And in [Amigas Who Run] I see the sisterhood, the checking in on each other.
But Vasquez is clear to point out that women's health is also about creating safe spaces for women to practice healthy exercise. Unfortunately, we live in a society where people think it's ok to harass you or to cat call you. I feel like Amigas Who Run and Boyle Heights Bridge Runners have created a space where women feel safe because, I know as for myself, if I'm going to come out and run, and it's past a certain time, I always think twice, [and] if I'm thinking about it, how many other women have this same feeling? When we say health issues health should be every woman's right' that falls under that.
Roxanna Curiel, Youth Program Coordinator for East Los Angeles Women's Center also sees a need for education on this topic and works with teenagers in East L.A. schools such as Garfield, Roosevelt, and Mendez High School to create programs that have a conversation with youth around what is public safety in regards to street harassment, [and] how to create safety in the streets for everyone. Though ELAWC is not directly involved in the run, Curiel says she plans to run as a community member:
