UTA alumna to run 24 hours to honor Uvalde victims
In tribute to the Robb Elementary School shooting victims, University of Texas at Arlington alumna and ultramarathoner Blanca Paloma Gonzalez will run for 24 hours straight through the city of Uvalde to raise money for scholarships she will award to Uvalde High School seniors.
This is the second year that Gonzalez, who graduated from UT Arlington’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation last month and works as a nurse in her hometown of San Antonio, will run in honor of the victims of the May 24, 2022, tragedy.
Last year, Gonzalez ran 71 miles along U.S. Highway 90 from her home to downtown Uvalde, where she was greeted by a cheering crowd. She raised more than $5,000, well surpassing her goal, which she awarded as scholarships to five Uvalde seniors.
This year, Gonzalez has mapped out a route of about six miles through the streets of Uvalde that she will repeat for a full day with minimal breaks and no sleep. She plans to begin her run at 4 p.m. Friday and finish at 4 p.m. Saturday, and invites community members to join her at any point along the way.
Gonzalez, who plans to pursue a master’s degree at UTA, took a few moments to talk about her desire to run for Uvalde and the impact she hopes to make in the still-healing community.
What inspired you to launch this fundraiser run last year for the city of Uvalde?
The reason I did this was to show the community in Uvalde that there are people who still think about them and the horrible tragedy they have lived through. I wanted it to be a reminder to the victims’ families and the entire city that they don’t have to mourn and heal alone. It’s a way to keep the memory of the 21 angels alive and continue speaking their names so they aren’t ever forgotten.
I’m a runner; it’s what I love to do. I’ve done several of these runs to raise money for different organizations or people in need. For example, on my birthday, I like to run my new age in miles and dedicate those miles to a cause or someone in need. I’ve raised somewhere around $15,000 for different organizations or people in need during my “Miles 4 You” runs.
What was the feeling like last year when you arrived in Uvalde at the end of your 71-mile journey from your home in San Antonio?
It was extremely emotional and impactful, not only for me but also for the community. When I arrived in Uvalde, I was so surprised to see the community coming out of their places of work to see me run and say hello. When I arrived at the Uvalde Plaza, there were so many people waiting for me—I was just very surprised. I didn’t know there were people planning on being there, so it just made me appreciate the community even more. We were able to raise five times the amount we were hoping for and ended up choosing five students to give the scholarships to.
Again, the whole reason I wanted to do the run was to show the community we support them and are thinking of them. But seeing the community’s response and having family members of victims reach out to me made me realize I had made a huge impact. I kept getting asked if I was going to do the run again, and my answer was always yes. I want to continue running as much and as long as I can.
I had an amazing crew that was with me the whole time. They were there to keep me safe, feed me and hydrate me, and as long as I’m able to bring them along, too, I can keep doing this for even more communities.
What will your 24 hours running in Uvalde look like this year?
I’ll start at the entrance of Uvalde and my route will take me through all the memorials to the victims and also through Robb Elementary School. Last year, there were a lot of people who were interested in joining me, so this year about 40 people have reached out saying they’ll join me at some point, including some parents and family members of victims.
We’ll be doing a lot more in hopes of raising more funds for the students here and encourage them as they move on to another phase of their lives. I’m hoping we raise at least $2,000, and I already have those two scholars picked out. One is Abraham Ale, who wore the No. 21 jersey for the 2024 Uvalde High School football team. The other is Ethan Silguero, a family member to two of the victims.