The Run Haiti Blog

Health | Fitness | Adventure

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Time is running out to sign up for the three-day Haiti Ultra Run! Experience an awesome journey from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel.

Go to www.runhaiti.com/haiti-ultra/ for more info!!!

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At Run Haiti, one of our main missions is promoting health and fitness.

This year, we awarded our first round of Health and Fitness Mini-Grants to help accomplish this mission.

One of the grants was awarded to Jasper House, an organization working with victims of sexual violence and human trafficking (www.jasperhousehaiti.org). The team at Jasper House reached out to us looking for an opportunity to promote health and wellness among women in Haiti.

Jasper House used the funds from their mini-grant to purchase sports and fitness gear. Then, they headed out into the countryside offering health and fitness outreach sessions. These sessions included soccer, volleyball and other fun activities.

Many of the women at Jasper House used their new equipment to start training for future running events.

The Run Haiti crew is excited to see what has been accomplished with the grant funding. Together, we can create a healthier Haiti.

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Even though I’m the Race Director for the Jacmel Riverbank 20k, my favorite Run Haiti event is the three-day Haiti Ultra Run.

When several of the Run Haiti co-founders suggested a three-day run from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel, I thought that it sounded like a crazy adventure.

It is a crazy adventure. The run features more than 20,000 ft of elevation change, challenging terrain and a final stretch along the Caribbean that will push even experienced runners to the edge.

My favorite part of the Haiti Ultra Run is the Parc La Visite. Situated at an elevation of about 2,000m (6,000 ft), the park is one of Haiti’s few remaining national forests. Among the pine trees and cool air, you might be fortunate to catch a glimpse of bird species native only to Hispaniola.

At Run Haiti, we consider the three-day Ultra Run our premier event. It’s our pride and joy. It’s the event that started it all.

Come join us March 1st-3rd, 2018, for this year’s event! Check it out at runhaiti.com

Kyle Denison Martin (Co-Founder, Run Haiti)

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Everybody is always asking us for our favorite routes in Haiti. 

Well, we are happy to share... but we would like for you to share too! 

Run Haiti recently created a club on Strava. 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Strava, it’s a fitness tracking app for your computer or smart phone. As part of Strava, you can share your runs with friends or the general public. You can also create “segments,” which are set routes that Strava users can run and compete for the fastest time (i.e., King of Mountain or KOM).

The Run Haiti team promises to put together some segments but we need your help to make this work! Join the “Run Haiti” club on Strava, start making some segments, and let’s create a community of runners!!

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Proceeds from the Jacmel Bay 5k and Jacmel Riverbank 20k helped fund the purchase of new spin cycles and an elliptical machine for the fitness center!

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Our Mission: Stroke Rehabilitation at the Clinic St. Espirit

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Our Mission

Run Haiti is a nonprofit organization that aims to promote health, fitness and adventure.

Run Haiti holds running events that fund programs to prevent and manage chronic disease in Haiti. 

One example is our stroke prevention and rehabilitation efforts. We work with a team of Community Health Workers in southeast Haiti to help prevent strokes via hypertension management. We also help to fund physical therapy services at the Clinic St. Espirit in Croix des Bouquets, Haiti.

Last year, about 2,000 patients received hypertension management from our Community Health Workers. An additional 2,000 patients were provided with rehabilitation services after suffering a stroke.

Run Haiti also funds local community runs. Our 2k community run in Croix des Bouquets attracted over 200 participants earlier this year!

We recently opened a fitness center at the Clinic St. Espirit. There are currently 50 members at this gym in addition to the hundreds of participants in the exercise classes that we offer.

This spring, we also offered our first mini-grants to local running clubs. We teamed with Jasper House in Jacmel, Haiti, to help fund a women’s running club as well as a running club out of the Clinic St. Espirit.

At Run Haiti, we aim to craft innovative and sustainable solutions. We hope that our programs will continue indefinitely.

Want to know more about what we do? Email us at [email protected]