Mina Celebrates 100 Marathons
Milestone for Mina Guli: Guli to celebrate running 100 marathons in six months
On Sunday 25 September 2022, Mina Guli will reach the halfway point in her RUN BLUE campaign to run 200 marathons around the world this year to raise awareness of the global water crisis and drive action to solve it.
Water campaigner Guli is running roughly four marathons a week each week this year as part of the RUN BLUE campaign
She will run her 100th marathon as part of the NN CPC Loop Den Haag race in The Hague, Netherlands, on Sunday September 25.
RUN BLUE began in Australia on World Water Day in March 2022 and will end at the United Nations in New York City in March 2023 at the opening of the first UN summit on water in almost 50 years.
When water campaigner Mina Guli prepares to run her incredible 100th marathon in six months on Sunday, September 25, she will reflect on how far she has come on an inspirational journey that has shown just what can be achieved when facing the most testing of hurdles.
The Hague, Netherlands, will mark the halfway point on Guli’s RUN BLUE campaign to complete 200 marathons in a year to raise awareness of the global water crisis, show the urgency of the problem and to drive concrete action to solve it. Guli, CEO of Thirst Foundation, began the campaign in her native Australia on World Water Day in March and will finish at the United Nations in New York City in March next year at the opening of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference.
For Guli, the 100th marathon is a milestone that is not just an enormous achievement for the RUN BLUE movement, but a reflection of the enormity of the water crisis and how it can be overcome when communities of people come together to unite behind a common goal.
“We had this incredibly ambitious, crazy idea to inspire action on water by moving the world through 200 marathons in the run-up to the UN Water Conference - a critically important global moment for water.”
On her journey Guli has met hundreds of people on the front lines of the water crisis who have shared their stories, and witnessed the impact water is having on their lives, their communities and their economies.
“We have been overwhelmed by the support for this movement around the world,” said Guli. “What started as me running alone in a desert only a few years ago has become a global movement for change with thousands of people stepping up for water in over 197 countries around the world.”
Along her route, Guli has been met by whole towns of people who have turned out to run with her in Tajikistan and Africa, and crowds of runners in Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey as she has run through areas on the frontlines of the water crisis.
“Along my runs I’ve seen first hand the devastation and impact of this water crisis - not only on the environment, but on communities and economies across the planet. From the summer drought here in Europe to the floods in Australia, the shrinking glaciers of Central Asia and the massive sinkholes of Turkey. I’ve run across too many dried lakes, along too many low rivers and through too many towns and villages suffering from water challenges. They all have one message - we have no time to waste. We need action on water now.
“Running my 100th marathon here in the Netherlands is significant both because the Netherlands is cohosting the UN 2023 Water Conference and because it has long been a world leader on water,” said Guli. “That leadership will be critical in driving global momentum towards the conference and ensuring we deliver more than speeches - we deliver concrete commitments to action on water.”
Just as the battle for change to solve the global water crisis has had its ups and downs, so too has Guli. Running an average of four marathons a week has taken its toll on her body. She has suffered illness, dehydration, heat exhaustion, torn muscles and just this week tripped over - running the last 20km with blood oozing down her legs.
“Personally, this 100th marathon is an emotional moment because it’s a place and a distance I’ve never done before, and when I was young, one I never could have imagined doing,” said Guli, who had to abandon her 2019 attempt to run 100 marathons in 100 days after fracturing her femur. “But this campaign shows us that we are capable of doing so much more than we imagine - whether it’s running 200 marathons or solving the global water crisis.
“With this marathon we start the countdown to the United Nations Summit - our finish line for these marathons and the start line for the global community to unite together around water. This will not be easy. But together we can remind ourselves that we can do hard things.”
(Note: As the longest distance offered at the Loop Den Haag is a half marathon of 21.1km, Guli will run 21.1km before the start of the race and then join the race for the second half marathon to complete her 42.2km for the day.)
Ends.
Thirst Foundation is a non-profit organisation that is focused on delivering ground-breaking action on water. RUN BLUE. March 2022 – March 2023, Driving action on the global water crisis, 200 marathons | 1 year | 1 reason.
To read more about #RunBlue visit www.runblue.org.
For additional media materials visit https://www.minaguli.com/media-centre
Follow the journey here: Instagram @minaguli Facebook @MinaGuliWater Twitter @minaguli LinkedIn @thirstfoundation
For any press enquires or interviews please contact: media@thirstfoundation.org
For more information and to sign up to #RunBlue please contact: joinrunblue@thirstfoundation.org
