Participants in the Running in Beauty for a Stronger and Healthier Navajo Nation on July 27, 2014. Photo from Healthy Native Communities Partnership / Facebook

Runners from the Navajo, Hopi and Ute Mountain Ute tribes are participating in the 2014 Running in Beauty for a Stronger and Healthier Navajo Nation.

The 400-mile journey started on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in Colorado on Sunday. Participants are now making their way through the New Mexico portion of the Navajo Nation in order to promote healthy lifestyles and combat diabetes.

“This is not a race because this is running for life, for health, you’re running for your family, you’re running for your communities and for your nation. As Indian nations we need to relearn how to be healthy,” Navajo Nation Vice President Rex Lee Jim said at the kick-off on Sunday, The Cortez Journal reported.

The ride concludes this Saturday on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation.

Get the Story:
Regional tribes run for healthier communities (The Cortez Journal 7/30)