Pacific Palisades Freedom Run — January 7, 2026

A year ago, Pacific Palisades burned. The images were everywhere, the grief was real, and for a moment it felt like something irreplaceable had been lost, not just homes and hillsides, but the sense of community that had built up over generations in one of Los Angeles most beloved neighborhoods.

On January 7, 2026, exactly one year after the fires, UNIFY USA showed up to answer that grief with something different: joy, flags, and a run.

Exactly one year after the fires, God blessed us with the opportunity to rejoice in remembrance and unity. We move forward with joy.

Why Pacific Palisades

The Palisades Fire was not just a California story. It became a national story, partly because of where it burned and partly because of what it revealed: that Americans, when stripped down to the bone, will show up for each other. Neighbors helped neighbors. Strangers drove across the city to volunteer. People who had never met handed each other water and stood together in shelters and did not ask about politics first.

That is the America that UNIFY USA runs for. Not a perfect America. Not a partisan America. The real one, the one that shows itself in moments of crisis when the noise falls away and what remains is just people deciding whether to turn toward each other or away.

The answer, on January 7, 2026, was toward.

The Run

Participants gathered at 851 Alma Real Drive with the walk beginning at noon and the run at 1:00 PM. The first 50 people through received an American flag, no purchase required, no strings attached. Just a flag, the kind you carry when you want to say something without words.

The format was intentionally simple: walk or run at your own pace, carry the flag if you had one, and leave division at the door. Only the U.S. flag was brought. Not as a political statement, but as the one symbol that belongs to all of us, the thing we all share whether we agree on anything else or not.

All paces were welcome. All people were welcome. That is the whole point.

Community Over Division

This is what a UNIFY USA run looks like on the ground: people who would never find each other on social media running the same road together. People who disagree on plenty, sharing the same sidewalk and the same flag and the same decision to show up. It does not require a speech or a platform or a cause beyond the basic one, that Americans are neighbors, and neighbors show up for each other.

The Pacific Palisades Freedom Run was centered on one idea: the American flag and the unification of the American people under God. Not as a slogan. As an action. As a run through streets that had survived fire and were still standing.

The Movement Continues

UNIFY USA runs city to city, one step at a time. Every run adds to the archive. Every run is a reminder that there are more people who want to come together than the loudest voices online would have you believe.

If you missed this one, the next run is coming. Follow @UnifyUSAOfficial and @PureJoyMcCoy on Instagram for announcements, and sign up on our Run With Us page to get run alerts straight to your inbox.

City to city. Step by step. Unify USA.