Going Coast-to-Coast with Climate Strides

Photos by Annelise Mecca

“Hello and WELCOME to our first Climate Strides event with Where The Climate Things Are!”

A small group of thirty-ish people stood around me near the reservoir in Central Park in the chilly morning air, some in running clothes and others in jeans and boots, all ready to move together outside. The group before me—old friends, new faces, kids with scooters, dogs!—that had been chatting away excitedly started to quiet down.

“We’re here because we are part of the outdoor community. That title is not just reserved for those summiting peaks or climbing the Dawn Wall. We all love to recreate outside and the thesis of this project is that those that love to be out in nature also want to do everything we can to protect it.” 

These words fell on the group of hushed, bundled, smiling New Yorkers, some glancing at the natural environment surrounding us right there in Central Park. 

“Today, we aim to create community around a shared love of climate action as we move through this space together.” 

In December 2024, I launched Where The Climate Things Are (WTCTA) to the world to uplift work happening throughout the climate and environment space – to hopefully spur more conversation and action—with a throughline of outdoor recreation. We aim to build an inclusive climate movement in the outdoor community, knowing that so many folks who work at the forefront of climate solutions also love to surf, climb and trail run in their free time (and knowing that plenty of athletes in the outdoor industry also use their platform to advocate for climate too—just search this website for proof.) 

A few months into the project, my friend and Footprints co-mentor Brittany Blitzer came up with an idea to live into the WTCTA ethos and create an event structure that “breaks the panel” by getting folks outside, moving and learning together. The structure not only features speakers at different intervals (staged so that both a running group and a walking group can tune in to all speakers) but also gives participants prompts to discuss with each other, ensuring audiences leave with a more dialogue-based experience than most panels. 

A simple structure—but one, we found out, that many are craving during these times. 

In a few weeks, we will take Climate Strides to its first climate week—San Francisco Climate Week (RSVP here if you’ll be in town!). The circular format and (we hope) inclusive nature is something that seems to be resonating with folks, as we rack up nearly 90 attendees (and counting!). My co-host Paddy O’Leary (pro ultrarunner and POW Athlete Alliance member) and I are realizing that folks want to engage on climate, yes, but that they also want to do that in an in-person, hands-on and inspirational community setting. 

This is exactly what we hope to provide, right there in Golden Gate Park. We will move together (run or walk – you choose!), hear from unbelievable climate leaders in their respective fields from incredible organizations (Rewiring America, Black in Climate, The Nature Conservancy, The Honnold Foundation… the list goes on), and get to discuss with one another our thoughts, feelings and questions around multiple climate topics. We will also top it off with a Golden Gate Park hangout afterward, complete with Best Day brews. Could it get any better? 

“Any solution is a climate solution if we all work together,” one of our speakers, Heemz, said in Central Park that day as the group came back together for a final send-off moment. 

In that instance, looking around at the group, I felt a surge of—dare I say it?—hope. Coming together then and there, in a time where many things feel scary and uncertain, felt like a radical act in and of itself. It felt like we were generating our own source of optimism and forward momentum as a community, building off the work and ideas of each other.

San Francisco, we’ll see you in a few weeks, and don’t worry, we’re bringing bundles of optimism, joy and NA beers with us. 

Author: Adeline Thompson

Adeline Thompson works at the intersection of climate philanthropy, environmental storytelling and representation in the outdoors. Formerly a communications specialist for the Nature, Climate and Energy team at UNDP, she currently manages an environmental grants program and co-hosts The Trail Ahead media series, fostering interracial dialogue around equity, access and inclusion in the outdoor community. […]