conservation

Please join us for our next Bartram Writers Series event including a screening of the documentary Rural Runners at the Cowee School on Saturday, May 20. After the screening, Brent Martin will host a Q&A discussion with its authors, Chloe Maxim and Canyon Woodward.

Rural Runners is a short documentary, 28 minutes, and a labor of love created by Canyon’s brother, Forest. The film follows Chloe and Canyon’s journey as two community organizers. It documents their time on the campaign trail as well as Canyon’s burgeoning rise as a champion ultra-distance runner. The film is about re-humanizing our deeply divided political system, offering hope and path toward a healthier democracy.

Rural Runners is now public! You can see the full film here. It premiered at Mountainfilm in Telluride and is a Vimeo Staff Pick.

About the Authors

Chloe Maxmin
Hailing from rural Maine, Chloe is the youngest woman ever to serve in the Maine State Senate, at 28 years old. She was elected in 2020 after unseating a two-term Republican incumbent and (former) Senate Minority Leader. In 2018, she served in the Maine House of Representatives after becoming the first Democrat to win a rural conservative district. She also received an honors degree from Harvard College, where she co-founded Divest Harvard. Chloe is the recipient of the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes and the Brower Youth Award. She was also named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone. She was named the 2020 Legislator of the Year by the Maine Council on Aging. She is also the Co-Founder/Advisor at JustME for JustUS, a Maine-based organization focus on rural youth civic engagement and climate organizing. She is the Co-Founder, alongside Canyon, of Dirtroad Organizing, a new non-profit dedicated to rural organizing.

Canyon Woodward
Canyon was born, raised, and homeschooled in the Appalachian Mountains of rural North Carolina and the North Cascades of Washington. He was the campaign manager for Chloe Maxmin’s successful 2018 and 2020 campaigns. He was previously regional field director for Bernie Sanders 2016, field director for Jane Hipps for NC Senate, and vice chair of the NC District 11 Democrats. He earned an honors degree in social studies from Harvard College, where the bulk of his education took place outside of the classroom co- coordinating (with Chloe) Divest Harvard, a 70,000+person movement that succeeded in pressuring Harvard to divest its $53 billion endowment from fossil fuels. He is also an avid trail runner. He is the Co-Founder of Dirtroad Organizing, a new non profit dedicated to rural organizing.

Visit their website to learn more about the authors and their book, Dirt Road Revival.