Read & Run on the Road

Meet author Frank Abe! ✨

This week, Read & Run on the Road organizer Malissa Rodenburg is introducing Seattle readers & runners to Frank Abe, an award-winning author who has edited, led, and contributed to everything from graphic novels about Japanese-American resistance to wartime incarceration to anthologies to the first-ever Day of Remembrance in 1978.

Malissa’s book-themed guided route is inspired by John Okada’s No-No Boy, a little-known 1957 novel telling the story of a Japanese-American who refuses to fight during the war—and after is shunned by his now divided community.

Frank won an American Book Award for his 2018 biography of John Okada, JOHN OKADA: The Life & Rediscovered Work of the Author of No-No.

Ready to meet Frank IRL?

➡️ Catch him this ✨Saturday, January 24✨ after Malissa’s three-mile Book Club Run out the .

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to grab your ticket! 🎟️

📸 Photo of Frank Abe Copyright © 2023 Kayla Isomura

Meet the newest Read & Run on the Road organizer, Malisssa Rodenburg! ✨

Seattle is in for a treat! The newest Read & Run on the Road organizer is Seattle-based journalist Malissa Rodenburg (), the columnist behind ’s Writers Who Run.

“Reading, running, and writing are three activities that pretty much consume my life,” Malissa said in a 2024 Read & Run Tours interview.

Malissa has two writing degrees—one focused on fiction and the other on science writing—and was previously on staff at Outside and Women’s Running Magazine. She’s also a bookseller at a family-owned bookstore in West Seattle!

Her first event is on Saturday, January 24 inspired by John Okada’s No-No Boy. Read the book and join her at the for a 3.5-mile guided tour followed by a chat with Frank Abe, an award-winning author and Frank Okada biographer.

Welcome to the Read & Run on the Road program, Malissa!

Read & Run on the Road, explained ✨👟

Hi, I’m Allison! 👋 I’m the founder of Read & Run Tours, home of the book-themed guided run where stories take place.

Did you know that Read & Run Tours has a program called Read & Run on the Road?

Read & Run on the Road is a program of independently-organized events under a license from Read & Run Tours.

This means that the coolest humans ever (runners who love books?! Yes!) from around the country get to host events with book-themed guided runs where the story takes place, followed by author Q&As, lectures, or book discussions.

➡️ Swipe to learn more and DM or visit our website to apply. ✨

I can’t wait to see a new cohort of organizers in 2026!

Read & Run on the Road has a new organizer launching soon!

Can you guess which city they’re popping up in?

Tell us in the comments! 👇

Happy New Year, readers & runners!

Read & Run on the Road (OTR) is a pop-up running event that brings stories to life through movement. Each guided route is inspired by a book set in the host location, with stops along the way that correspond to real places featured in the story. Every event follows an overarching theme that ties these stops together—helping runners connect more deeply with the book, the city, and each other.

This year, let’s focus on what’s IN:
👟 IRL communities
👟 Wholesome gatherings
👟 Using movement and stories to explore your city
👟 Building events you’d actually want to attend

Sound like your dream 2026?

Tap the link in bio to apply to host your own event and follow along here for upcoming events around the U.S.!

✨✨✨

Read & Run on the Road is a program of independent-organized pop-events with book-themed guided runs where the story takes place under license from Read & Run Tours.

What should D.C. dweller read to feel more at home in the city?

Just ask Chelsey Stone, inaugural Read & Run on the Road organizer. This program allows runners across the U.S. to host Read & Run Tours-like events where they live—all with the goal of using movement and stories to better connect to the places they call home.

Here are the Washington, D.C. books inspiring Chelsey’s 2025 Read & Run on the Road events in Washington, D.C.—and making both newcomers and longtime residents feel more connected.

Tap the link in bio to read the full blog.

[Read & Run on the Road is a program of independent-organized pop-events with book-themed guided runs where the story takes place under license from Read & Run Tours.]

Are you running the ?!

You can catch shakeout in the best way possible: with a book-themed guided run the story takes place!

Join Read & Run on the Road organizer for a history-filled running tour shakeout to bring community, context, and a lot of fun to your marathon weekend!

📆 Friday, October 24
📍Nuns of the Battlefield at 1745 M St NW, Washington, DC
👟2 miles
🧂
🖼️ End with a private tour of the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum

RSVP ➡️ Link in bio

No matter where they take place, Read & Run Tours events are designed to help you connect more deeply with yourself, your fellow runners, and the place you’re running.

Happy reading and running!

📸 Photo credit: Inside Nova

‼️Meet Morowa Yejidé with Read & Run on the Road organizer Chelsey Stone at this Sunday!

A native of Washington, DC, is the Morowa Yejidé of the critically acclaimed novel Time of the Locust, which was a 2012 finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize, long-listed for the 2015 PEN/Bingham Prize, and a 2015 NAACP Image Award nominee. Her most recent novel, Creatures of Passage, was shortlisted for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and a 2021 Notable Book selection by NPR and the Washington Post. She lives in the DC area with her husband and three sons.

🗣️📚 D.C. based readers & runners get an exclusive intimate meet-and-greet with Morowa at after ’s 6.2-mile Read & Run on the Road Book Club Run of Creatures of Passage this ✨Sunday, October 19.✨

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to save your spot!

Read & Run on the Road is a program of independent-organized pop-events with book-themed guided runs where the story takes place under license from Read & Run Tours.

📸 Photo credit .foto

📣 NOW READING: CREATURES OF PASSAGE BY MOROWA YEJIDÉ!

D.C.-based Read & Run on the Road organizer ’s next Book Club Run is inspired by Creatures of Passage Morowa Yejidé, a story that revolves around Nephthys, who drives anyone in need all over Anacostia; Amber Kinwell, whose dreams accurately predict death; and Dash, who is too young to understand the danger he’s in.

This book is for both lovers of magical realism and all things supernatural AND anyone who wants to use literature to better connect to D.C.

➡️ After you read, join Chelsey this ✨Sunday, October 19✨ in Anacostia for a 10K route ending with an in-person Q&A with the author at .

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to save your spot!

Read & Run on the Road is a program of independent-organized pop-events with book-themed guided runs where the story takes place under license from Read & Run Tours.

Read & Run on the Road organizer brought The Hopefuls to life last night! 🥳

Over around three miles in DC’s Dupont Circle and Kalorama, readers & runners joined Chelsey to trace the real-life places featured in Jennifer Close’s () novel The Hopefuls.

Chelsey explained, “The Hopefuls is about a young married couple that moves from NYC to DC because it’s the husband’s lifelong dream to run for office. The narrator (the wife) was reluctant to move and has a lot of complaints about DC: the constant politicking, the weather, and the metro—to name a few.

After the route, readers & runners enjoyed a post-run chat at !

➡️ NEXT UP: Join again in D.C. on Sunday, October 19 for her Read & Run on the Road Book Club Run of Creatures of Passage and post-run Q&A with author Motown Yejidé! Tap the link in bio for tickets.

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Read & Run on the Road is a program of independent-organized pop-events with book-themed guided runs where the story takes place under license from Read & Run Tours.