Kelsey Long - Indigenous trail runner, mountain biker, and Rising Hearts athlete advocate
Kelsey Long is a Diné/Navajo trail runner, mountain biker, and community builder who lives in southeast Oklahoma on the Choctaw Nation Reservation. Kelsey is a co-founder of We Run Long, a community of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) trail runners that seeks to expand BIPOC presence in the sport while honoring Indigenous lands and amplifying diversity at races and beyond. She wants to help others find their joy outside and bring more people who look like her into the sports she enjoys.
I first met Kelsey at Cycle Oregon’s Joyride where she led a trail run and participated in a live podcast recording with Marley Blonsky of All Bodies on Bikes and Lisa Congdon, artist and gravel racer. In that discussion, Kelsey spoke to the importance of financially supporting people of color as a means of providing access to predominantly white recreational activities. “What we need are not allies but accomplices,” she said, a call to action she revisits in this interview.
I thought more people would appreciate her story and message and collaborated with her to develop a presentation with Whitney Washington and Kristin Weiss at the International Trails Summit in Madison, Wisconsin, in April 2025. I interviewed Kelsey as part of our presentation preparation for the Summit.
HB: What was your path to trail-based recreation?
KL: I started as a road runner, running with my dog and participating in local races. In January 2017, the State Games of Oklahoma offered a trail run registration at low cost, which made the event accessible to me. Trail running was a totally new experience. The route was hard and twisty, a challenge I liked, and I came in 3rd in my age group (30-35). That success encouraged me to continue trail running. I didn’t have trails near where I lived, so whenever there were trail races, I would sign up.
Kelsey and Rebecca, Best Running Friends!
In early 2021, I got involved with Dirtbag Runners, a worldwide virtual community on Instagram, and they encouraged my involvement in trail running. In May 2021, I became one of their social media managers.
Dirtbag Runners is where I met Rebecca, who would become co-founder of We Run Long with me. Rebecca works for Cycle Oregon and grew up mountain biking on trails and gravel. She asked if I’d ever thought of trying biking on trails. She shared some mountain biking videos with me. [laughs] My initial response was, NO THANK YOU! She kept encouraging me to try it, and eventually I did. Mountain biking is a totally different experience than running. It scares the hell out of me and is also something I really want to do.
HB: Where did We Run Long come from?
KL: I applied to be a Rising Hearts Athlete Advocate and was accepted for the inaugural class in 2021. Rising Hearts is an Indigenous led organization that elevates community voices through meaningful kinship, movement, advocacy, and storytelling. I met so many amazing community leaders, and I also felt out of my league. But at the end of an Instagram Live in December 2021 when Rebecca facilitated a conversation with two other BIPOC runners and I, we started dreaming about a community for BIPOC runners by BIPOC runners. With the support of Dirtbag Runners and Rising Hearts, we felt we could be successful in creating this community.
I’d found that outside the Dirtbag Runners community on Instagram, my experience on trails felt closed to me. No one in the existing communities invited me in, and I found it difficult to develop as a trail runner on my own. I look very different than most trail runners: I’m shorter and heavier - everyone’s stick thin. Being Indigenous makes me feel even less welcome. I live on the Choctaw Reservation, which contributes so much to the sense of community in the region. Yet, most people who live on the reservation are white passing and don’t deal with discrimination the way I do. Generally, people keep their distance until they want something. I feel like a second-class, second-class citizen.
In November 2022, we hosted a community event in the Dallas area with 23 people and participated in the Dinosaur Valley Endurance Run. It was great! The aim of the event was about pumping up others. It included athletes who weren’t runners, was open to all BIPOC people including trans and non-binary folks, and everyone we brought finished the race. This was what trail running could and should be. It brought people to trails and helped them feel they belonged.
This running community would become We Run Long.
HB: Tell me more about We Run Long events and what came after the Dinosaur Valley gathering?
KL: We aim to create or strengthen relationships BIPOC people have with the outdoors because it’s yours and you’re allowed to be there. We want to change trail running and heal. It’s not true that being out on trails is a white people activity. We Run Long gives people opportunities, removes barriers, and encourages people to recreate on trails in their own community. Part of how we do this is by having team events and camps across the U.S.
It's satisfying to see that people have created their own communities and built on what We Run Long started. We chose community leaders for our events, and they have taken the ideas of inclusion, welcome, and respect for the land and Indigenous people and created their own teams and communities.
We hosted a basecamp party in March 2024 for the Mid South, a weekend endurance festival in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Rebecca and I wanted to bring more BIPOC athletes to this event, so we asked for reduced or comped entries for our team. The organizers surprised us by asking how many entries we wanted. We received 25 comped registrations, which enabled us to bring ten more people to the event. We hosted a We Run Long meet and greet before the race to build community.
At the end of 2023, we received news that Altra Running and Freestone Endurance would sponsor a camp for We Run Long in 2024 in an effort to support our mission. Camp We Run Long was a 4-day gathering in Buena Vista, Colorado with 31 runners. As with all our events, we invited women, men, trans and nonbinary folks to join and began with a land acknowledgment. We provided transportation from Denver to the event center and had a full day of programs and Saturday of the camp was race day. Altra provided filming and photography, which was the basis of our trail film festival submission.
We Run Long leadership team from left to right: Co-Leader Ayako Sawanobori, Co-Founder Rebecca Persons-Vaskez, Co-Leader Alissa Lay, Co-Founder Kelsey Long
HB: When and how did you get into mountain biking?
KL: Rebecca had put the bug in my ear, but my fear kept me from doing anything about it until she told me she was selling one of her bikes. I bought Rebecca’s old mountain bike in 2023. We’re both short, and it’s rare to find a used mountain bike in a size that fits me. At first, I needed help shifting, but once I figured that out, I had so much fun!
It was helpful for me to be in a supportive encouraging community to learn how to mountain bike. After attending Cycle Oregon’s Joyride in August 2024, which was a lot of fun although the road ride out of camp to the gravel was super steep, Rebecca and I participated in Roam Fest, a femme and women’s mountain bike retreat in Fruita, Colorado. Rebecca showed me the ropes. The retreat setting was a lot of fun, and I met so many awesome humans. The support and encouragement that comes with learning among others helped me ride out what was scary about mountain biking and keeps me coming back to the sport.
While I’m comfortable trail running by myself (usually with my dog), I don’t feel safe mountain biking alone. I had a bad crash once - I was thrown from my bike, which knocked my breath out of me so that I couldn’t breathe. Thankfully, there were people on that trail, and I was able to get up and get home. But what if something were to happen and I wasn’t ok? For now, I feel safer with others, so I’m sticking to events for mountain biking.
HB: What other obstacles or challenges do you experience when it comes to trail-based recreation?
KL: Gear. I don’t have the typical body type for a runner, and I would love to see more options for fit when it comes to athletic clothes. Most running clothes have a form fitting cut. Even in an XL top, I look like a sausage, and it’s not nice feeling so uncomfortable. I’d love to see some more loose cut clothes. Shoes, whether running or biking, are a challenge for me, too. I have short, wide feet. What I want in terms of style and color might be expensive, and if I want to buy them on sale, I’m limited to what’s available. The same is true of bikes, which are expensive to begin with and rarely made for someone my height. Because a small bike is a specialty item, a new bike is out of my price range, and used ones are rarely available. And…is it not possible to have a more comfortable bike seat?
“What we need are accomplices not allies.”
HB: Ah, yes, the sitting parts! Terry has a line of saddles designed by and for women (in addition to loose-cut tops), and while recumbent cycles (two or three-wheeled) are not typically used for trail riding, they do offer a more comfortable body position and seat. What about trail access? Do you experience any barriers?
KL: I drive an hour to the nearest trails where I feel safe. There is a closer trail that’s part of an Oklahoma state park. The park is near homes, and I’ve been warned not to use that trail because the people in the homes don’t like brown people. They’ll shoot you. It’s a good trail to run on, but you take your chances going out there. That kind of trail safety is something I always consider when choosing a trail in Oklahoma and Texas. Yeah, you can run on those trails, but is it safe?
HB: That’s horrible. A trail environment like that is a significant access issue. Given all that you’ve shared, what actions would you like people to take or consider?
KL: We don’t want allies; we want accomplices. Ask: what are you doing? Pay for BIPOC individuals to come to your space and be prepared to make an investment with money or time. Visit their spaces and see what makes them special. Know the groups in your area and remember you’re creating a relationship. People in BIPOC communities don’t inherently trust outside their communities. As part of maintaining relationship continuity, reach out when leadership changes.
Specifically for events: Offer a land acknowledgement and provide discount codes for BIPOC individuals to share with our communities.
Follow on Instagram:
We Run Long @werunlong
Rising Hearts @rising_hearts
Dirtbag Runners @dirtbagrunners
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