Both Missy and Wynonna, who are themselves native as well–Mescalero Apache and Navajo, respectively–were introduced to ultra trail running through NWR. Previous to Cocodona, the furthest they’d ever run was 100 miles. 

Verna talks to these runners about their running history and what inspired them to want to take on this huge challenge. They also discuss how they prepared for this event and what running on trails means to them, as native women, including how being on the trails is healing and a way to connect with the land and ancestors. 

And of course, Missy and Wynonna discuss completing this tremendous feat. They cover the joy and challenges they experienced, all the way through to the emotional finish. 

Verna brings her shared ultra experience, fresh off finishing her first 100-miler in August 2025, as well as her shared cultural connections to the trails and long trail journeys. And, as the woman who founded the organization that inspired Missy and Wynonna to take up ultra trail running, this conversation is also a recognition of the importance of creating these spaces for her community. 

This is a journey of a lifetime–a truly unforgettable ultra story, like you’ve never heard before. 

EARTHMOVERS on Instagram: @EARTHMOVERSpodcast

Our Season 1 Presenting Sponsor

Thank you to our presenting sponsor ALTRA. Find them at ALTRArunning.com

From this Episode

Wynonna Fulgham on Instagram: @blacksheep_running

Missy Hendricks on Instagram: @ellicul_lucy

Native Women Run: @native_women_run

Cocodona 250: @cocodona250

EARTHMOVERS Hosts

Verna NezBegay Volker: Runner, mother, community builder, public speaker, and racial equity activist from the Navajo Nation, Volker is the founder of Native Women Run, an organization that began as a virtual community and is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. @hozhorunner4

Alison Mariella Désir: Runner, mountain climber, mother, community builder, and racial equity activist, Désir is the author of the groundbreaking book Running While Black and the host of the award winning PBS TV show Out and Back with Alison Mariella Désir. @alisonmdesir

Stefanie Flippin: Professional ultra trail runner, running coach, podcaster, writer, racial equity activist, and a foot and ankle surgeon, Flippin is the 2021 USATF 100-mile road champion and course record holder, and she’s the 6th fastest all-time American woman at the 100-mile distance. @stefanieannflippin

Stefanie and Verna dive into all that went into Verna reaching her 100-mile goal, a process that's been years in the making, as well as how the race went down. Several years ago, Verna attempted this distance and over 90 miles before having to end her bid. She vowed then that she had no interest in going after 100 miles ever again. 

But then Verna changed her mind. 

Verna had the opportunity to run the Redwoods 100-mile Challenge, put on by Milestone Events, and she took it. This sounded like just the set-up that would facilitate her being able to accomplish this tremendous goal. She was right. Also key to Verna's success was teaming up with Sky Tulley, who was also going after his first 100-mile finish: the two ran most of their miles together. Though they'd never met before, both Verna and Sky are Navajo and grew up on the reservation. Verna talks about how this shared bond helped get them through the tough miles. She also shares some of the funnier times, experiencing hallucinations and how laughter helped get them through to the end. 

Stefanie brings her perspective as a friend, as well as a professional racer who specializes in the 100-mile distance and coach who works with athletes at all levels of the sport. She also shares some of her own experiences in the outdoors, connected to her Japanese-Chinese heritage.  

Both Stefanie and Verna also get into why representation matters and the ways in which this 100-mile event allowed Verna to show up as her full self and support her goals. 

Find EARTHMOVERS on Instagram: @EARTHMOVERSpodcast 

Our Season 1 Presenting Sponsor 
Thank you to our presenting sponsor ALTRA. Find them at ALTRArunning.com

Mentioned in this Episode 
Daniel Böcker, Verna's coach, Instagram: @athletewithoutmeat

Milestone Events: @officialmilestoneevents

EARTHMOVERS Hosts

Verna NezBegay Volker: Runner, mother, community builder, public speaker, and racial equity activist from the Navajo Nation, Volker is the founder of Native Women Run, an organization that began as a virtual community and is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. @hozhorunner4

Alison Mariella Désir: Runner, mountain climber, mother, community builder, and racial equity activist, Désir is the author of the groundbreaking book Running While Black and the host of the award winning PBS TV show Out and Back with Alison Mariella Désir. @alisonmdesir

Stefanie Flippin: Professional ultra trail runner, running coach, podcaster, writer, racial equity activist, and a foot and ankle surgeon, Flippin is the 2021 USATF 100-mile road champion and course record holder, and she’s the 6th fastest all-time American woman at the 100-mile distance. @stefanieannflippin

In this conversation between EARTHMOVERS co-host Alison Mariella Désir and Dora Atim, Atim shares how she got started in running, and what got her out on the trails, running ultras. She also gets into how the running group she founded, Ultra Black Running, came to be, and why she's so passionate about carving out space on the trails for other Black women and nonbinary runners. 

Atim goes deep, sharing empowering, joyful moments in running and on the trail. And she shares experiences of racism and exclusion. Once a shy, quiet kid, today Atim is known today for being boldly herself. But that's been a process. Atim and Désir discuss how Atim navigates making change and overcomes times of self-doubt, why Atim doesn't view herself as an activist, and how community is at the core of it all. 

Find EARTHMOVERS on Instagram: @EARTHMOVERSpodcast 

Our Season 1 Presenting Sponsor 
Thank you to our presenting sponsor ALTRA. Find them at ALTRArunning.com

From this Episode

Dora Atim on Instagram: @doradontexplore
Ultra Black Running on Instagram: @ultrablackrunning

EARTHMOVERS Hosts 

Verna NezBegay Volker: Runner, mother, community builder, public speaker, and racial equity activist from the Navajo Nation, Volker is the founder of Native Women Run, an organization that began as a virtual community and is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. @hozhorunner4

Alison Mariella Désir: Runner, mountain climber, mother, community builder, and racial equity activist, Désir is the author of the groundbreaking book Running While Black and the host of the award winning PBS TV show Out and Back with Alison Mariella Désir. @alisonmdesir

Stefanie Flippin: Professional ultra trail runner, running coach, podcaster, writer, racial equity activist, and a foot and ankle surgeon, Flippin is the 2021 USATF 100-mile road champion and course record holder, and she’s the 6th fastest all-time American woman at the 100-mile distance. @stefanieannflippin

Miki Sawada is an ultra trail runner and professional pianist who focuses on bringing classical music to community spaces through her nonprofit Gather Hear. Sawada is Japanese, and she’s been living in the US for the past two decades. She calls the Boston area home.

Sawada was chosen as one of the two recipients for the 2025 GU Energy Labs’s Diversity Initiative. In this episode, Sawada talks to EARTHMOVERS host Stefanie Flippin, who is also her coach. In addition, Flippin is a sponsored athlete with GU and helps oversee the Diversity Initiative Sawada was chosen for. 

Sawada discusses her upbringing and the different cultures she’s grown up in, and what led her to becoming a professional musician. Sawada also gets into her experiences on the trail: why she runs in outdoor spaces and why she applied to be a part of the Diversity Initiative through GU. For Sawada, inclusivity work is core to her drive–in the world of classical music and now in trail running. 

EARTHMOVERS on Instagram: @EARTHMOVERSpodcast

Our Season 1 Presenting Sponsor

Thank you to our presenting sponsor ALTRA. Find them at ALTRArunning.com

From this Episode

Miki Sawada on Instagram: @mikipony

Gather Hear: gatherhear.com

EARTHMOVERS Hosts

Verna NezBegay Volker: Runner, mother, community builder, public speaker, and racial equity activist from the Navajo Nation, Volker is the founder of Native Women Run, an organization that began as a virtual community and is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. @hozhorunner4

Alison Mariella Désir: Runner, mountain climber, mother, community builder, and racial equity activist, Désir is the author of the groundbreaking book Running While Black and the host of the award winning PBS TV show Out and Back with Alison Mariella Désir. @alisonmdesir

Stefanie Flippin: Professional ultra trail runner, running coach, podcaster, writer, racial equity activist, and a foot and ankle surgeon, Flippin is the 2021 USATF 100-mile road champion and course record holder, and she’s the 6th fastest all-time American woman at the 100-mile distance. @stefanieannflippin

In this premier episode, EARTHMOVERS hosts Alison Mariella Désir, Stefanie Flippin, and Verna NezBegay Volker get on the mic. They catch up on their recent outdoor and life adventures, including Alison’s second summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and putting on her first trail race, the We Out Here Trail Festival. 

Stefanie shares about her busy coaching season and about her own training, which has included documenting her local trail system, while setting FKTs along the way. She also talks about being at We Out There and the panel discussion that took place the night before the race. You can find that conversation on the Making Strides podcast (find link below). 

Verna shares about her recent trip home to the Southwest, where she hosted Georgia Weir and her husband, both native runners from Australia–Georgia founded the organization Deadly Runner, to amplify and support indigenous runners in Australia. Verna also discusses training for her 100-mile trail race, as well as the last time she attempted this distance–at Dark Anchor, put on by Yeti Trail Runners. 

Also discussed: the origin of the EARTHMOVERS name, some of the reasons behind starting this podcast, and what everyone is looking forward to for this first season of EARTHMOVERS. EARTHMOVERS is a trail podcast reclaiming the narrative. We are just getting started. 

Find EARTHMOVERS on Instagram: @EARTHMOVERSpodcast 

Our Season 1 Presenting Sponsor 
Thank you to our presenting sponsor ALTRA. Find them at ALTRArunning.com 

Mentioned in this Episode 
Learn more about the upcoming Kilimanjaro Marathon and safari trip, with host Alison Mariella Désir, happening March 2026: soraka.tours/kilimanjaro-marathon-with-alison 

Making Strides live panel discussion from We Out Here, on Apple and Spotify

Yeti Trail Runners: yetitrailrunners.com 

Georgia Weir: @georgiaweir83 

Deadly Runners: deadlyrunner.com.au 

EARTHMOVERS Hosts 

Verna NezBegay Volker: Runner, mother, community builder, public speaker, and racial equity activist from the Navajo Nation, Volker is the founder of Native Women Run, an organization that began as a virtual community and is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. @hozhorunner4 

Alison Mariella Désir: Runner, mountain climber, mother, community builder, and racial equity activist, Désir is the author of the groundbreaking book Running While Black and the host of the award winning PBS TV show Out and Back with Alison Mariella Désir. @alisonmdesir 

Stefanie Flippin: Professional ultra trail runner, running coach, podcaster, writer, racial equity activist, and a foot and ankle surgeon, Flippin is the 2021 USATF 100-mile road champion and course record holder, and she’s the 6th fastest all-time American woman at the 100-mile distance. @stefanieannflippin