RUNNING FORWARD: FROM THE PROJECTS TO THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE Hardcover – January 25, 2026

Running Forward follows Gustavo Ortiz Escalante from a dirt floor house in Valparaiso, Zacatecas to the projects of East Los Angeles and, finally, to the principals office in neighborhoods that look just like the ones that almost swallowed him.As a boy, Gustavo carries laundry to hot springs, delivers food to men in the fields, and learns hunger, work, and responsibility before he can write his name. When his family moves to Ramona Gardens, he discovers what it means to dodge bullets on the way to buy chips, to read the language of cars and corners, and to depend on parks and coaches the way other kids depend on private lessons.In Catholic classrooms he serves Mass and hides abuse. In public schools he learns that English can cut deeper than fists. Sports become his first escape, then college, where he studies on an empty stomach and refuses to let poverty, papers, or statistics decide his future.Gustavo becomes a teacher in South Central and later a principal, standing between his students and the same streets that trained him. Along the way he runs marathons and triathlons, turns running into a way to stay alive, and begins to understand stability, money, faith, and love on his own terms.This memoir is for anyone who has ever felt out of place everywhere, too Mexican in the United States, too American in Mexico, too street for church, too church for the street. It is a story of almost endings, broken promises, stubborn mentors, and the quiet power of one more day.If you have ever wondered whether someone from the projects can build a life of purpose and peace, Running Forward answers yes, and reminds you that you do not have to run alone. Read more