Driving east on 1st Street in Boyle Heights, a giant red billboard is hard to miss. In bold, block letters, it reads: “Race with your mind. Run con corazón.”
What you might miss beneath the slogan are three women running while pushing strollers — the logo of Running Mamis.
The billboard is one of several that have gone up across the city ahead of this weekend’s Los Angeles Marathon, spotlighting Nike-sponsored local run crews. But for the Boyle Heights-based Running Mamis, the sign carries a deeper meaning.
Founded in 2018, Running Mamis was created as a space for women, especially mothers, to celebrate their feats and support one another while navigating the unique challenges they face in the running community. This year, nearly 100 members between the ages of 24 and 68 will run the LA Marathon.
Among them is Jo Anna Mixpe Ley, a Roosevelt High School teacher who co-founded Running Mamis with three mothers. Sunday will mark her 13th consecutive race.
For Ley, the billboard represents more than just a show of support; it’s a celebration.
“Although running should be accessible to everybody, it still isn’t,” Ley said, adding that the term “marathoner” often comes with an ideal look that many of the women of Running Mamis don’t fall into. “Often it’s something that’s not deemed accessible to the women of our own community.”
Co-founder Raquel Roman said every detail of the billboard was intentional.
“The quote is in Spanglish and so being able to see our language reflected on a billboard during these times, I hope it’s a sense of pride that we’re here as a community,” said Roman, who isalso executive director of community nonprofit Proyecto Pastoral.
Last week, Running Mamis joined another Boyle Heights-based run club, Cafecito Runners, for a run to see the new billboards (a second billboard is located on Soto and 4th streets). Roman described the moment as “powerful.”
“To be seen, to be celebrated, because that’s not always the case in the running community,” Roman said.
“Despite all the challenges that exist as women and mothers, (the billboard) was a true gift,” Ley added.
Running Mamis has been an official Nike Partner Run Crew since 2022, according to Roman. Other partner run crews across the city, including Koreatown Run Club, Keep It Run Hundred, Good Vibes Track Club, Sunday Runday LA, Her Sports, Girl Gang Crazy and Students Run LA, are also featured on billboards and banners ahead of the race.
In Inglewood, near La Brea Avenue and Hillcrest Boulevard, a billboard supporting Keep It Run Hundred declares, “Go from zero to run hundred.”
In Koreatown, a Nike banner for the Koreatown Run Club near Sixth Street and Serrano Avenue reads, “Meet us at Wilshire and where excuses end.”
More than 300 runners from the Koreatown Run Club will participate in this year’s marathon. The race coincides with the club’s 10th anniversary, and the milestone has given co-founder Duy Nguyen a moment to reflect on how far the group has come.
“We finish one marathon after another but with the 10-year, it forced me to see where we’ve come and all that we’ve done,” he said.
LA Local reporter Hanna Kang contributed to this report.