Great work! You knocked it out of the park and reached the goal just a quarter of the way in! We know it’s a long shot—but, let’s try to hit 5,000 miles!
MyRWA postponed the 2020 Herring Run and Paddle race—but that doesn’t mean we can’t virtually celebrate the spectacular herring migration that occurs each spring on the Mystic! This May we are offering a free virtual walk/run called “Run with the Herring”—an opportunity for us to come together, raise awareness of the herring migration, and share this fantastic eco-success story with friends and family.
To participate in “Run with the Herring” download the MoveSpring app (details below). Participant’s mileage will be tracked from May 16th - 30th with the group goal of accumulating 789 miles in the watershed—one mile per every one-thousand fish that traversed up the Mystic River last year. We ask that you get your friends, family and neighbors involved! Encourage them to participate and also share the fun facts about the migration on your own social media to help us raise awareness (you can use our post, below). Since we can’t celebrate and educate in-person, it’s important that we share the value of the Mystic River in new ways!
Join us:
Download the MoveSpring App. To join, use this link (Note: The organization’s code is MRWA) or already have an account search “Run with the Herring” from the app’s dashboard.
Walk or run anytime from May 16th - 30th to help us reach a cumulative 789 miles (1 mile per every 1,000 herring that migrated up the Mystic last spring.)
Post your photo on social media using #RunwiththeHerring, and/or in the chat box in the app. We really hope this is an opportunity for people to share their experience and build community.
Share with your friends! After you sign up, we ask that you share the post below (or your own version!) to help us spread the word about MyRWA and these amazing fish we work so hard to protect. We’re depending on the fantastic MyRWA community to help us raise awareness! Please remember to tag us. We’re on Instagram @Mystic.River.Watershed, Twitter @MysticMyRWA, and Facebook @MysticRiverWatershedAssoc.
“Did you know that each spring nearly 1 million river herring migrate from the ocean, up the Mystic River, to the Mystic Lakes to spawn? Join the Mystic community. Run or walk with me to help us reach our group goal of 789 miles (one mile per 1000 fish on the Mystic in 2019!) to raise awareness of this hidden wildlife migration right in Greater Boston. Learn more about river herring, places to explore, water quality, climate change in the Mystic, and more at www.mysticriver.org
The virtual walk/run will be held over a two week period —when the river herring are most prevalent in the Mystic. While this event is not supporting physical gatherings, we hope to support social connectedness in the watershed.
Every run or walk will contribute toward our goal of 789 miles—and raise awareness for herring! Have old herring run and paddle shirts—or really any fish-themed clothes—wear them and take some selfies using the tag #RunwiththeHerring.
Registration is free thanks to generous sponsorship from Twin Elms Environmental Brokerage.
This event is sponsored by Twin Elms Environmental Brokerage. Thank you for your support.
When participating, please respect all local and state safety guidelines for recreating outside.
We hope you will also join us at the rescheduled in-person Herring Run and Paddle on Saturday, September 26th. We’ll be running with the fish on their return to the ocean! Register for the fall, in-person Herring Run and Paddle here.
Want to see the river herring? Watch the fishcam and help record important data here.
You can still run the original Herring Run and Paddle 5k on your own using the map below. You can park at the green pin—Blessing of the Bay boathouse in Somerville—or at Torbert Macdonald park in Medford.
