Flying into Cairo to run part of the Nile River - the penultimate ultra marathon in my #run4water journey - I’m reading about the water challenges that face the entire Middle East and North Africa region.

1,050 kilometres down, 638 kilometres still to run. I’m in China and have passed the 1,000 km milestone of my 1,688km journey. Today I’m in Shanghai, running along the the world’s busiest inland waterway, the Yangtze River. For me the Yangtze is a metaphor for our global water crises, and there is a particularly hopeful story I'd like to share with you about it.

I’m suspended in a tree high above the Amazon River, and from this vantage point I can see the incredible canopy of green that shrouds the banks of this mighty waterway. The trees fill every space until they meet the horizon. The only gap is the big blue divide that snakes through this jungle.

Running out of Las Vegas, Nevada on World Water Day at the beginning of my 1,049 mile epic quest for water, I marvel at how innovation affects the relationship between the vulnerability and resilience of a city’s water management.

This is going to sound a little crazy, but on March 22, 2017 I will start to run a journey of over two million steps for water. I’m not an athlete. Then there’s the fact that 25 years ago I broke my back and was told I’d never run again.