Running has been on the rise in the past couple of years. If you see a powerful group running, walking, or celebrating throughout the Twin Cities, you might see Andrés Yuya. With strong Venezuelan roots, Andrés was raised in South Saint Paul, temporarily leaving for college and returning to the Twin Cities a few years later. He has made sure to bring health and wellness to the people he works with as a yoga instructor, ensuring that it is a welcoming space. His work expands beyond yoga and includes the Los Callejeros running club. 

Working under Latinos in Comunidad, he is a co-founder of a branch of this organization called Los Callejeros. In line with the goals of Latinos in Comunidad, Los Callejeros seeks to create a health and wellness environment where the Latin community can see themselves. Many people who attend the run club sessions also strive to incorporate wellness into their lives. The club has grown into a strong community with everyone showing up for each other. 

“We’ve grown definitely in numbers. We’ve grown like a family as well; it feels like we’re just hanging out with our friends when we go now,” Yuya said. “It’s really special, and every single run we have new faces…It’s really a special thing we’ve got going.”

The Los Callejeros group is as diverse as the Latin community. 

They work with people who have paces across the board, roots throughout Latin America, and people in different stages of life. Andrés works hard to make sure none of them goes unnoticed. 

The spirit of the club reveals itself in the smallest moments. Everybody who arrives is welcomed with a high five, a smile, or a warm “good job,” and that energy carries well beyond the workout. People stay after they finish, gathering in small circles to talk, share music, and dance their way into the evening. What begins as movement quickly becomes community, fueled by the vibrant Latin culture that keeps everyone on their feet.

The sessions start off almost like a casual gathering, where people ease in, warm up together, and take a moment to introduce themselves. 

“I like asking people where they’re from or where their families are from. It’s cool to see all the different countries being represented,” Yuya said.

He added, “In the end, it is really a party. People are cheering everybody on that’s finishing, there’s a lot of high-fives happening, a lot of cheering that’s happening, so it’s really special at the end.”

This year, they conducted a two-part Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, and the liveliness of Latin culture was even more evident. On September 15th, they were able to get a mariachi group to kick off their run. Throughout the run, he witnessed multiple people carrying flags representing their Hispanic lineage. 

A few weeks later, similar events occurred in Lululemon at the Mall of America. Yuya led a yoga class in the space, with local Latin food vendors being there to give them a bit more energy. The space was transformed with food, dance, and music from various Latin American countries.  

They have grown tremendously in numbers over the last couple of months. Yuya recalls the summer months, when the number of people reached around 80. With their bi-weekly runs, the Los Callejeros family has grown dramatically, and many of their original members have remained loyal. He claims that the group has prospered into the greatness it is today because of the leadership and initiative of its members. Feeling evidently like one big family. 

“We may have started the group, and as you know, it takes leadership and initiative to continue it, but if people weren’t showing up, there wouldn’t be a group,” Yuya said.

Andrés and Los Callejeros work hard to ensure the Latinos they engage with know they belong in the spaces they inhabit. They have worked hard to reclaim the spaces of health and wellness for Latinos. They even wish to shift the generalized meaning that comes with a name like Los Callejeros within Latin culture. 

This is not a group of thugs, but a health and wellness group that aims to stay healthy together outdoors.  

“We want to change the narrative. We want to shift the perspective of who we are and what spaces we belong in. That’s why I’m so big on the yoga para los Latinos, that’s why we have a run club, like there are so many run clubs, but is there a run club for Latinos?”  

With the Minnesota winter in full swing, Los Callejeros plans to move indoors to engage in health and wellness activities under safe conditions. In the meantime, you can look forward to their bi-weekly runs, posted on their Instagram page, loscallejerosrun.

Wellness is for everybody, but you know we speak Spanish, and we’re bilingual. We play salsa music, we get donuts, and so it’s very much like for our community. So again, it’s just to implement this health and wellness, which is well-being, holistic well-being, into our culture and normalize it because it’s not normalized fully yet.”