Film Screening: The Monarch Ultra

Date: Apr 22, 2026 at 19:00
Meeting Location: Friends House

This Earth Day, join the Toronto Field Naturalists for an extraordinary cinematic journey

How far would you go to save a species? For forty-six ultra-runners, the answer was a 4,300 km relay from Peterborough, Ontario, all the way to the mountain forests of Central Mexico. The Monarch Ultra is more than a film about a race; it is a cross-continental “ode to the butterfly” and a call to action for a species in steep decline.

Witness the grit of athletes running 50–100 km legs to mirror the monarch’s own perilous migration. Through breathtaking landscapes and interviews with scientists, environmentalists, and local heroes, you’ll discover the deep connection between human endurance and environmental survival.

Come celebrate Earth Day with us and see how a community of runners turned an ultra-marathon into a powerful movement for pollinator conservation.

Registration is required. Please register on Eventbrite.

BONUS: Two copies of Nadina Galle’s excellent book, The Nature of Our Cities, will be raffled off at the screening!

 

This event is part of our free monthly lecture series. TFN members enjoy advance notice of upcoming lectures and follow-up commentary in our newsletter. Not a member? Learn more about the benefits of membership now!

Please tag any posts related to this lecture with #TFNTalk so that we can all join in the conversation.

Toronto Field Naturalists wishes to acknowledge this Land through which we walk. For thousands of years, the Land has been shared by the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe. Toronto is situated on the Land within the Toronto Purchase, Treaty 13, the traditional and treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is also part of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum, a covenant agreement between Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Wendat peoples and allied nations to peaceably share the land and all its resources. Today, the Land is home to peoples of numerous nations. We are all grateful to have the opportunity to continue to care for and share the beauty of this Land.