Collective Care and Wellness: The Story Behind Chiangmai FrontRunners and The Village Trail

Collective Care and Wellness: The Story Behind Chiangmai FrontRunners and The Village Trail

The Sangsan Anakot Yawachon Foundation or Sangsan is a non-governmental organization dedicated to advancing human rights and promoting gender and SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Expression, and Sex Characteristics) justice, social justice, economic justice, environmental justice, and climate justice.

Our work focuses on empowering indigenous women, indigenous children, and indigenous women with diverse SOGIESC / LBQT+ to advance human rights and development justice.

The Foundation’s work is organized into four core programs: (1) Human Rights, Feminist, and Digital Rights Education; (2) Feminist Participatory Action Research on environmental justice, climate change, and land rights; (3) Economic Justice; and (4) Gender and Social Justice.

Although each program addresses different issues, the Sangsan recognizes Collective Care and Wellness as a cross-cutting theme that underpins all of our work. We believe that efforts to advance human rights and social justice cannot be sustained if human rights defenders, community leaders, activists, and communities themselves continue to experience chronic exhaustion, stress, violence, insecurity, and unequal care responsibilities.

For this reason, we promote a Culture of Care that values Self-care, Collective Care, and Community Care. We view care not as an individual responsibility, but as a shared responsibility among families, communities, organizations, and society. Building strong systems of collective care is therefore both a strategy for promoting wellbeing and an essential approach to strengthening empowerment, resilience, and the long-term sustainability of social justice movements.

It was from this vision that Chiang Mai FrontRunners was established.

Chiang Mai FrontRunners is a member of FrontRunners International, the world’s largest network of LGBTQIA+ running and walking clubs and allies, with more than 500 clubs worldwide.

For us, Chiang Mai FrontRunners is much more than a running club. We are a feminist trail running community of Indigenous women, LGBTIQAN+ people, and allies who use trail running as a tool to build wellbeing, solidarity, empowerment, and social change.

We organize regular group runs, participate in trail races at the community, national, and international levels, and create spaces where participants can learn, connect, and care for one another through movement and nature.

Out of these experiences, The Village Trail was born.

The Village Trail is a community-led trail running event by and for Indigenous women, children, and LGBTIQAN+ people. It reimagines trail running as more than a sporting event—it is a platform for strengthening Indigenous leadership, celebrating cultural identity, protecting Indigenous lands and waters, supporting local livelihoods, and building collective care and wellbeing within communities.

The Village Trail has been organized annually in Indigenous communities for the past three years. Each year, it brings together more than 200 Indigenous women, children, LGBTIQAN+ participants, and allies. The event demonstrates how trail running can become a safe and inclusive space where collective care and wellbeing, community solidarity, human rights, and environmental justice come together.

Alongside organizing the event, we have developed and promoted the Village Trail Guiding Principles to inspire trail running events that respect human dignity, Indigenous rights, gender equality, environmental justice, and collective wellbeing.

The Village Trail Guiding Principles

1. By and for indigenous women, indigenous children, and indigenous with diverse SOGIES/LGBTIQAN+

2. Indigenous Community-led trail running event

3. Respect for Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and Indigenous self-determination

4. Protection of Indigenous lands and territories

5. Environmental and climate justice

6. Gender and social justice

7. Economic justice

8. Collective care and safe spaces

9. Holistic wellbeing (physical, mental, social, cultural, and spiritual)

10. Zero tolerance for sexual harassment and all forms of sexual violence

For us, trail running is not simply about reaching the finish line. It is about creating communities where everyone belongs, is cared for, and can live with dignity and rights.

Come run with us. Together, we can build collective care culture, stronger movements, and a more just future.