PUSHING DOWN THE WALLS BURPEE MARATHON AND BBQ
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8TH, 2025
A Fundraiser for Abolition Now OC
El Centro Cultural De Mexico, 837 N. Ross St, Santa Ana 92701
Doors open at 1pm
Burpees begin at 2pm
Dearest Comrades,
Greetings from behind the layered walls of imprisonment, where we are captives in rebellion seeking collective liberation. We are each braving the forces of fascism, and although we may not know all that confines you, we hear and meet your calls for freedom. May we all draw strength today from the future we are building, the necessity of the times we are in, and from the memories of our fallen.
Our comrades in Athens once declared boldly, “The passion for freedom is stronger than their cells”, and we wholeheartedly profess the same. Between the rage and sorrow of our forced separation and more importantly the separation of vecinos all around you, we know undoubtedly that social media posts, yard signs, and performative protests are no longer enough. We need revolutionary commitment – a refusal of debilitating despair and comfortable delusions. We need examinations of uncomfortable complexities and contradictions to resolve doubt and cast off the chains of a shallow past.
When you take to the pavement today, know that we are with you. Our liberation bound together with great love because without it, our dreams would have no meaning. Today we move with you; in motion, imagination, and spirit: great strikes against defeat! Although we have yet to abolish these prisons where pain goes to burrow, multiply, and explode, we remain hopeful because from the shadows of these margins, humans brave daring acts of subversion.
We are able to live with our losses without succumbing to misery because of your unwavering comradeship. Running Down The Walls creates social and political bonds that make visible our existence and our shared struggle in this threatening world. We are honored to run with you because “a wall is just a wall” after all, let’s run those shits down!
Juntos,
Peppy & Krystal
Brian DiPippa #66590-510
FCI Elkton
P.O Box 10
Lisbon, OH 44432
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for your support. What you all are doing makes a huge difference for political prisoners and their families. The War Chest has been an invaluable resource during my incarceration! These past three years would have been incredibly difficult without your love. Peace and respect to you. ‘Do not go gentle into that good night…rage, rage against the dying of the light’-poet, Dylan Thomas.
Alexander Contompasis 22-B-5028
Upstate Correctional Facility
PO Box 2001
Malone, NY 12953
Salutations and felicitations to all of my Running Down the Walls Comrades! Yet again we have travelled another circuit of the seasons and come to the time and place for another operation of what has become an institution outside of the barricade: the Running Down the Walls run/walk/roll in support of fewer walls and cages and greater freedom and community. The need for our side of the barricade to come together to do as much as possible is becoming ever more acute. The forces pillage and plunder are raising an increasingly dark social storm cloud that segregates the human family into inherently different and necessarily competitive groups surrounded by both physical and cultural walls over which only enmity and conquest fly. The image is hard to avoid. But that just makes it easier to resist! And so we will when we lace up our shoes, pull on our gloves, and RUN DOWN THE WALLS, conscious of our brethren, sistren, the men all moving in the same direction with a rhythm that will push back the storm, erode the barriers between people, and move the movement a little farther down the road to revolution. I’ll be with you if not in person, in presence, if not as fast more committed, as I run down walls inside them.
Bill Dunne
The Future Holds Promise
Bill Dunne #10916-086
FCI Butner Medium II
PO Box 1500
Butner, NC 27509
September 21st will see the 26th annual Running Down the Walls events happening all over. So far, events have been confirmed in New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, Eugene, OR, Chicago, IL, Bloomington, IL, Lowell, MA, Portland, OR, and Miami, FL. A Pushing Down the Walls event (burpee contest) will also be taking place on November 8th in Southern California.
Since 1999, prisoners and supporters throughout North America have participated in the annual event known as Running Down the Walls (RDTW) often running or walking simultaneously in many cities and prisons at once. Many places will be hosting the 26th annual RDTW on or around Sunday, September 21th, 2025 – stay tuned to our blog for more details from all of the locations participating this year!
This is a non-competitive 5K run/jog/walk/roll to raise awareness and funds for political prisoners. Over the years, we have raised thousands of dollars and lots of awareness around the struggle to free political prisoners.
Read solidarity messages from political prisoners Alex Stokes, Bill Dunne, Peppy and Oso Blanco and former political prisoners, Josh Harper and Ray Luc Levasseur.
List of Running Down the Walls 2025 events
Bloomington, Indiana
September 21st
Bryant Park Southside
1pm registration
Running Down the Walls is an annual event that happens in many cities across North America. It is an anti-competitive 5K (run, walk, roll, or just hang out) to raise money for political prisoners. In 2024, BABC had our second ever RDTW and it was a huge success! https://bloomingtonabc.noblogs.org/rdtw25/
Brooklyn, New York
WHAT: Running Down the Walls – 5k Run/Walk/Jog/Bike/Hang
WHEN: 2:00-7:00pm, Sunday, September 21st, 2025
WHERE: Prospect Park– Lincoln Road/East Lake Drive, east of the Terrace Bridge
COST: $20 registration, participants encouraged to get sponsors (includes vegan BBQ afterwards, with COVID precautions for serving!) Donate at paypal.me/nycabc or venmo.com/nycabc
https://nycabc.wordpress.com/2025/08/15/rdtw2025/
Chicago, Illinois
September 21 – Cook County Jail – Division 11
5PM: Rally, March and 5K Marathon 7PM: Bands and DJs (TBA)
Free / Fundraiser for the ABCF Warchest
Join us for a 5k Marathon Run and Generator Show in solidarity with Political Prisoners.
https://abcchicago.noblogs.org/running-down-the-walls-chicago-2025/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DNqtbCVx0KR/
Eugene, Oregon
September 21st
11am
Alton Baker Park
Running Down the Walls is a non-competitive run/walk/roll 5K event where people inside and outside of prisons run/walk/roll in solidarity with prisoners everywhere. It is both a fundraiser and a protest against mass incarceration. This event brings us closer together, strengthens our bond, and lets people behind bars know they are not forgotten.
Running is not required! You can also walk, bike, roll, cheer, or just hang out. Afterwards, stay for socializing with speakers, tabling, and light refreshments. There is a $10 suggested donation but please donate more if you can. You can bring cash the day-of or donate via Venmo: @NACEUGENE. Please put RDTW in the comment.
https://neighborhoodanarchists.org/event/running/
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
September 28 at 11:00 a.m. Departing from the gazebo at Bayfront Park, we will enjoy a friendly 5k run/walk/roll past Barton Jail and back to the park, where we will continue celebrating the Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair weekend.
Los Angeles, California
September 21 @ 10 am
Echo Park Lake
Donate at https://fundrazr.com/ABCFRDTW2025
Lowell ABC
September 21, 11am
Boarding house park, 40 French street, Lowell, MA
There is also a venmo QR code for @LLABC and a cashapp QR code $LLABC for Running Down The Walls (RDTW) donations for those who not attending.
Portland, Oregon
Save the date, sign up, and come one, come all! (Cash also accepted day of!)
September 21, 2025
Meet under Tilikum Bridge East.
$30 BBQ $25 BBQ+5K
11am check-in
12pm race
1pm BBQ
https://fundrazr.com/d2Zdy6
South Florida ABC
Sunday, September 21st, 2025 from 3-5PM. To join please visit the link in our bio, sign up and donate to participate.
https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/5tO3knpSIM1KaDWO0PyJvo-OIPH6HxpPccO+zcYAgCM/
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