Why is Burrito League?

Burrito League Los Angeles Chapter - January 2026

What started as a response to Strava and Chipotle NOT hosting a 2026 burrito challenge, Aravaipa Running Race Director Jamil Coury decided to create a running challenge of this own. Thus, Burrito League in Tempe, Arizona was created.

Built around the idea of a Strava segment, participants would run a short section back and forth as many times as possible until January 31st. Anyone could participate. There was no entry fee. Walkers were encouraged as well as runners. The challenge was not about speed yet your desire to keep showing up. A mental test of just how fun & ludicrous this all really was.

I had been in Los Angeles visiting for the holidays when I had seen the Tempe League kick off. I was intrigued and bummed I was not back home taking a crack at running up and down Mill street. Shortly after the Tempe league started, I saw two local hometowns create leagues in Prescott and Flagstaff Arizona. Then I got really upset. I live about an hour from each so technically, I could have participated in both but I probably would have done the CocoLoco segment just because it is a part of the Cocodona 250 route. 

Most of the Arizona leagues started in early January. The LA chapter didn't start til January 11th. I was about ready to drive from the SF Valley to the Redlands segment when Adam created the Sunset Blvd segment. The LA segment is a 0.18 stretch from Parkman Ave (Cafe Tropical) to Descanso Dr. If you're from LA, like me, you know this a busy section of Echo Park, Silver Lake area. Also, side note, this section is also mile 6/7 of the Los Angeles Marathon. Thus my Burrito League LA journey started officially the afternoon of January 11th.

The first day was just a casual seven miles. The seggi was quiet. It was just Gordon and I running up and down the sidewalk. We actually ran too far. We started at the corner of Cafe Tropical and ran to the other side of the street to the front door of Heavy Handed because we weren't sure where the segment officially ended. There were issues with the route on Strava so we guessed and went the extra steps because we didn't want to short ourselves segments. LOL! 

S/O to Gordon. I had not recognized it was him until I posted my IG story later that day and he replied to my post. My bad! I had not seen Gordon since our late night art runs with BlacklistLA. LA is such a huge city and has seen so much change since those 2010s years of concrete running. It was motivating to be out there with an OG LA street athlete. We were out there a lot of the time together, grinding, smiling, chatting, sunbathing, cursing, coffeeing. I took Gordon's advice from his time spent doing many TSP (the speed project) runs and started to chunk my runs. Instead of smashing out 20, 30 milers per day, I would split my runs into a morning run and lunch run. This saved me. Thank you Gordon.

From January 11th through January 31st, I'd take the trek from the Valley to LA, traffic and all and worked from 10am-5pm. There were some days I'd start earlier and other days stayed a bit past dark but most of the work was done during "working" hours. This challenge started off casually, friendly, me just doing miles like a normal 7-8 mile run. Then it started to get a bit competitive between Sarah and I. At the time, I did not know Sarah. I did not follow her on IG or Strava but she started following me. I'd do a solid run and take the Female lead and she'd bounce back almost instantly and take back the crown. It wasn't until we were at the Pasadena Half Marathon cheering on running mates that I looked at Strava and my alter ego came out. I told my friend Dee, "I have to go back. Sarah took the lead again." And bless Dee, my coach, my hero, one of the reasons why I was able to do this competition in the first place. Long story there. But my trail running game stepped up another level during the summer of 2025 thanks to Dee. As teammates, when one has work to do, the other quickly joins in. We dashed home, changed our outfits and off we were to segment. 

It was around this time that Dee coined me "Glen Coco." If you know, you know. LOL! Dee had witnessed the Jen Ego come out and "Just Jen" was nowhere to be found. I was on a mission. From January 15th to the 31st, I did not take a rest day. If I was out on the segment, I was there most of the day. Some days I'd do a solid double digit run, while other days I was doing double runs (as Gordon had suggested). If I wasn't running, I was, as Abraham (2nd Male Participant) coined it, aggressively walking. I'd pound the pavement (quite literally) in my Mount to Coast H1s. (This is a great shoe BTW.) This shoe saved me with their 6mm heel. If I had worn my zero drop shoes, I would not have made it through. The moments of challenging Sarah on the leaderboard went away once we finally met on the seggi. We talked vipassana, life, death (yes, she works in that field), all the things, as we motivated each other up and down Sunset Blvd, laughing, smiling, pointing out new things along the segment. Thank you Sarah. 

As much as this was about running, there was one encounter I'd like to mention here. I've only told a a few people about this because at the time, this had to do with my Self study. But I'll share now with the hopes people can spread some kindness to this Soul if they should ever cross paths. Thank you Victor. Thank you for teaching me about selfless service. As much as this was a silly contest about running up and down as many times as I could, I would stop my running to converse with Victor. I don't know too much about him except he lives off of Vendome. He'd sit in his wheelchair and ask for change to take the Metro 4 bus to either his doctor appointments or to see his family. He'd call me Jane and tell me to eat something. At times, he'd ask for a soda, so I'd stop and buy him a Coke and not because I felt bad I wanted to. When he needed a push to his door, I'd push him. Not because I had to, but because this is what my spiritual practice has taught me - selfless service of others. This is just who I am. So, if you should one day be crusin' down this area and you see Victor asking for a coke, needing a push or change, tell him Jane says hi and I finally ATE something. 

I was recently asked what enticed you do this? Well, why not do this. It's been a wild ride for me since I moved out of LA in 2020. I wanted to live in the freedom of the Arizona mountains. Sedona had won my heart and was apparently waiting on me to make my transition from street athlete to trail runner. It was in the high desert that I started to grow confidence in attempting an ultra running distance. Mind you, I was not a trail runner when I lived in LA. I ran mostly streets. Most of the trails in LA you have to drive a ways to get to trails with elevation gains. It wasn't until I moved to Arizona, I felt a sense of peace, oneness with the mountains and nature. I knew there was more to my story but my imposter syndrome has held me back for some time until this competition. This was a battle of the self, the fear, of defining yourself not of limiting beliefs but of worthiness, showing up for yourself that you can do difficult things despite all the mental stories your mind tells you. I've seen friends do amazing things over the years and inspire me, it was my turn to inspire myself to do the damn thing. And so I did. This is my first unofficial/official ultra marathon of 100 miles. I've noticed giving other folks praise for their accomplishments, so I'll finally take a minute here and congratulate the Self. Look at your accomplishment. Take a bow. Smile. You inspired others as others have been inspiring you. It's okay to be in the spotlight even if you've never really been here. You came in first place female (3rd Overall) in the Los Angeles (MY HOMETOWN) Burrito League. 

Proud of you.