Five Native high school students were selected to participate in activities held at Harvard and the Boston Marathon. The PURSUIT program, organized by Wings of America, was a collaboration with the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP) and the Boston Athletic Association (BAA). Through this opportunity students were hosted overnight by Harvard College students, heard from a panel of Native athletes and scholars, toured a biomechanics lab, and learned about the college admissions process.

Wings of America selected five outstanding Native high school runners to participate in the first-ever Boston Marathon "Pursuit" program. They'll spend an overnight with students, visit Harvard & Northeastern tomorrow, and then run the 5K and volunteer at marathon stations later on. Welcome!

Wings of America is a national running program dedicated to promoting wellness and well-being for Native youth throughout the country. This past fall, Wings put out a call for applications from Native youth who could demonstrate a commitment to both well-being and academics. In total, five students were selected to travel to Boston and visit the Harvard campus.

PURSUIT participants

Students arrived Thursday evening and visited with Native undergraduate and graduate students at the Harvard University Native American Program over dinner. They met their college hosts and retired for the evening. One of the first activities the next morning was running on the Charles River next to campus.

Wings Panel

Morning activities included a panel on balancing athletics and academics with long-time Wings participant Newell Lewey (MIT Graduate Student), Julian SpearChief Morris (Harvard Law Student), Alvina Begay (N7 Ambassador/Professional Runner), and Itzel Vasquez-Rodriguez (Harvard College Student & Track/Field Manager). Each of the panelists shared words of wisdom from their personal experiences, counseled students on balancing studies and competition, and encouraged the Pursuit participants to make the most of their opportunities.

Professional Runner, Alvina Begay

Students also toured the Harvard Peabody Museum and visited the Running Biomechanics Lab overseen by Dr. Dan Lieberman. In the afternoon, HUNAP gave an admissions overview to students and shared best practices for applying to college. Afterwards the group made their way to Northeastern University for a campus tour and visit.

Pursuit participants ran in the B.A.A. 5K on Saturday and volunteered along the Boston Marathon route at water stations.

HUNAP would like to thank our college students for hosting - Caden, Damon, McKayla, and Truman. A big thanks also goes out to Alvina Begay, Dr. Capone (Peabody Museum), Dr. Lieberman (Human Evolutionary Biology), Itzel Vasquez-Rodriguez, Julian SpearChief Morris, Michael Ruiz (GSAS Research Scholar), Newell Lewey, and Wade Campbell (Anthropology PhD student).