The Longest Night Run & Walk

Why We Gather to Move Through the Night Together:

The Longest Night Run is a community event in which we come together on the longest night of the year to signal our support and solidarity with one another through times of grief, loss, waiting, and challenge. Too often, grief, waiting, and the times in between the moments of sunlight in our lives can be the loneliest experiences, but The Rewilding Ministry, Somos, The NliveN Movement, and Pajaro Valley Run Club are committing to changing this. We run, walk, and move to embody resilience, to keep moving forward together through the night with faith that a new dawn will come, and to carry the light and hope with and for one another during the long nights.

What to Expect:

We will gather at Somos: Cafe & Community Center for interactive reflection stations, speakers, and chances to connect. Then, we will head out for a candlelight walk or run.

This an untimed, friendly, meaningful, and short route that goes from Somos and around the Watsonville town square, and you'll be surrounded with the light of your running and walking partners and friends as you move through the Longest Night in with-ness together! The distance is approximately .3-.5 miles, and you can run or walk as many loops around the square as you'd like (approximately .25 miles each). All paces, people, and movement styles are welcome, wanted, and celebrated!

What to Bring and Cost:

We are inviting everyone to wear reflective and lighted gear and will provide everyone with a battery-operated candle to carry on the run or walk. This is a donation-based/pay-what-you-wish event, with a suggested donation of $10; there is no mandated cost, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

This event is proudly co-sponsored and organized by the following partners: The Rewilding Ministry, Somos: Cafe & Community Center, The NliveN Movement, Pajaro Valley Run Club

Proceeds benefit The Rewilding Ministry/Center for Courageous Compassion, a nonprofit movement to cultivate coming alive together through reclaiming our sacredness and following our wildness. The Rewilding Ministry uses the wisdom of the earth, embodied joy, deep learning, and wild creativity to transform trauma at the individual, collective, and systemic levels into survivor-centered sacred spaces, courageous spirituality, transformative communities, sustainable compassion and justice, post-traumatic thriving, and planetary liberation.

Host or Publisher Center for Courageous Compassion