Here for the run?

Via Magna - 100 Ultra Marathons in 100 Days

Real Men Don't Blend In

Sebaste is a non-profit that designs and implements dynamic programs to help boys and men grow in masculine virtue through physical fitness and the lessons of sacrifice provided for us through the lives and deaths of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.

Picture of a tired intern on a field - smiling and holding a water balloon
Picture of Sebaste obstacle course
Picture of a Sebaste members working out
Picture of Sebaste members in a group with one wearing antlers
Picture of a Sebaste member rope climbing
Picture of a Sebaste members wrestling
Picture of Sebaste members around a fire praying
Picture of the Sebaste obstacle course in winter
Picture of Sebaste members in a group
Picture of Sebaste obstacle course
Picture of a Sebaste member rope climbing
Picture of Sebaste members in a group with the Sebaste flag
Picture of Sebaste members wrestling
Picture of Sebaste members in a group
Picture of a Sebaste members working out
Picture of Sebaste members around a fire praying
Picture of a Sebaste members wrestling
Picture of Sebaste obstacle course
Picture of a tired intern on a field - smiling and holding a water balloon
Picture of a Sebaste members wrestling
Picture of a Sebaste members wrestling
Picture of Sebaste members around a fire praying
Picture of a Sebaste member rope climbing
Picture of a Sebaste members working out
Tired intern on field
Sebaste Obstacle Course
Group working out image
Sebaste members with antlers on head
Climbing Sebaste Member
Wrestling Sebaste Members
Sebaste members around a fire
Sebaste members running with a log
Picture of Sebaste members in a group
Sebaste Obstacle Course
Group working out image
Picture of Sebaste members wrestling
Picture of Sebaste members in a group
Picture of a Sebaste members working out
Picture of Sebaste members around a fire praying
Picture of a Sebaste members wrestling
Picture of Sebaste obstacle course
Picture of a tired intern on a field - smiling and holding a water balloon
Wrestling Sebaste Members
Sebaste members around a fire
Picture of a Sebaste member rope climbing
Picture of a Sebaste members working out
why we exist

The crisis in Masculinity

Picture of man on the edge of a cliff

Masculinity in the modern age is at a crisis point. The hearts and souls of men are not only being starved, but systematically cramped, shackled, and destroyed.

Young men are tyrannized by safety and emasculated by comfort - and exist in an isolated social desert, void of support, mentorship, and purpose.

Sebaste seeks to fill this void as a fraternal organization by building up men through transformative adventures, physical challenge, and raw exposure to the transcendent power of truth, goodness and beauty in themselves and the world around them.

Our Programs

What we do

Sebaste operates as a contract service that designs and implements dynamic training events or full programs in furtherance of team or institutional goals.

SHRINE internship

Summer program

A 9-week program for college-aged men in New Mexico.

Do traditional adobe construction, detach from technology, and push yourself with team challenges and adventures.

Picture of Sebaste members rope climbing
Custom Events

Training Grounds

Bespoke programs to help men become strong, virtuous leaders.

Team-Building Training: For athletic teams at the mid-school, high-school, or college level.

Leadership Training: For students, teachers, businessmen, or clergy.

Picture of a Sebaste members working out
Cross Country Run

Via Magna

“The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness”
- Pope Benedict XVI

Follow co-founder Johnny Kuplack on his run from California to New York. His run will conclude at the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville.

Johnny has competed in 12 ultra marathons, winning about half and coming in second in the other half.

This run is meant to build awareness around the mission of Sebaste.

3500 miles
100 Days
Map graphic showing the Via Magna run
Picture of the doors of a Cathedral

Our Four Pillars

Sebaste has built its mission on four core pillars - pillars that serve the innate, and too often unfulfilled, needs of all men.

Devotion: The truly devoted man lives a life of strong and zealous action properly ordered toward an end higher than himself.

Adventure: We live in a world tyrannized by safety. Adventure is not only the antidote, but a need hardwired into the soul of every man.

Challenge: Sebaste uses trial and physical challenge as a means to confront our own weakness, and - by accepting it - to transcend it.

Brotherhood: Sebaste uses mentorship and the fraternal experience of the poetic and the painful to form bonds that hold society together and last into eternity.

Testimonials

“This is the most unique and powerful Catholic Program for young men I have ever encountered”
Scott Bloch
Author of the Novel “Mount Wonder”
"Volunteering was the most incredibly unique experience of my life!"
Joe Ellefson
Summer Program Graduate
“Knowing that the building methods are completely traditional and they’ll last for forever is a huge highlight of the work”
Joe Meyers
Summer Program Graduate
“Living at a retreat center, working and praying and eating together – the life of the men working on the shrine resembles a kind of pseudo-monasticism. Interns are really like missionaries, because a missionary is somebody who is sent, and they have been sent to us for this particular apostolate. That is to help build this beautiful shrine.”
Bishop James Wall
Bishop of the Diocese of Gallup
"The program is quiet, and contemplative. We do Night Prayer every night and that for me has been probably the highlight of every day, just reflecting on the day, and looking back on things that you’ve been thankful for, and sitting in the silence.”
James Lafave
Summer Program Graduate
About

Our team

Men brought together by the desire to help men and boys reclaim a masculine identity rooted in adventure, hardship and fraternity.

Jeremy Gay
Co-Founder | Father of Six | Attorney | Marine
See bio

Co-Founder Jeremy Gay is a husband and father who lives in the small town of Gallup, NM. After getting married, he attended law school and practiced law as an officer for the USMC for 5 years. He and his wife and their six children moved to Gallup because of its charm and inconvenience. Having had a love of the difficult instilled in him in each of the institutions he was a part of, he and his dear friend Johnny Kuplack embarked on the journey of creating a program that would instill in boys and men a similar love for adventure, sacrifice and brotherhood.

Johnny Kuplack
Co-Founder | Endurance Athlete | Teacher | Mentor
See bio

Johnny Kuplack is a teacher and endurance athlete who lives in Gallup, NM. An alumnus of the same high school as Jeremy, Johnny has spent his adult life coaching, teaching, and mentoring young men throughout the country through rites of passage and transformative adventures. He spends his time training for 100 mile races and encouraging young people to embrace the arduous good.

Cyle Balok
Board Member | Father of Two | Educator | Coach and Athletic Director
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Cyle passionately endeavors to be a role model and positive influence in the lives of young people, especially those who are fatherless or who face other various challenges. Through his work in public education, he aims to empower youth to be virtuous, confident, and accountable. As a coach and athletic director, Cyle believes in the power of sports and competition, and the sacrifices inherently required for their success, to be an excellent means of redirecting the life-course of young people. Along with his wife and two children, Cyle and his family live on a family farm in the Zuni mountains of New Mexico and have a deep love for animals and the beauty of creation.

Joe Meyers
Logistics Coordinator | Program Alumnus | Teacher
See bio

An alumnus of our summer program, Joe has taught boys at the high school level, embarking on and leading adventures in Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, and the U.S. He plans to attend law school starting next fall. He can be found training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and kickboxing, going on runs in minimalist sandals, studying languages and spontaneously vanishing with a backpack and a can of sardines.

Virtue through trial

Sebaste helps men reclaim their masculinity through trial, training, and mentorship.

Picture of Sebaste interns at work