Marathon 150
For most of us, running one marathon is hard enough, world renowned water activist and ultra marathoner, Mina Guli, is running 200 marathons around the world for water in 1 year, that’s 4 Marathons a week!
She has recently completed the milestone marathon number 150 in Viet Nam and is currently in India for the next leg of the campaign. She will be in Madrid, Spain from the 17-19th January for marathons 157 & 158. After that she will return to Latin America before heading to Mexico. For the last leg of the 200 Marathon journey Mina will head to the United States where she will finish her 200th marathon on the steps of the UN Headquarters in New York on March 22nd - the day the UN Water Conference starts.
It's all part of the global Run Blue campaign (backed by Bayer, WWF, the Dutch and Tajikistan governments and others) to raise awareness about the world’s water crisis, and inspire action from governments, companies and individuals ahead of the UN Water Conference - the first such summit for 50 years.
Mina, a native Australian, has already completed marathons in Australia, Central Asia, Africa, Turkiye, Europe, Middle East, Peru, Bolivia as well as at COP27 where she highlighted the critical importance of water and freshwater ecosystems to climate action, particularly adaptation.
Mina Guli - "I'm running 200 marathons in a year because the world still turns a blind eye to our worsening water crises. I run ridiculous distances because it is completely ridiculous that billions of people still lack access to safe water and sanitation. I run to ensure that water and freshwater ecosystems are at the center of global debates about food and energy security, climate action and sustainable development - and to inspire real action.
Running all these marathons is hard but not impossible - just like the steps governments and companies need to take to solve the world's water crises. I run because that's how I can have the most impact. What can you do?"
Originally from Australia, Mina is a global leader committed to protecting the world’s water resources. Following a 15-year career in law, finance and climate change, Mina established the Thirst Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness and driving action on water. She has spoken at the United Nations and many other global fora. She’s also a superb storyteller and interviewee and has featured regularly in major global, national and local media.
In 2016 Mina ran the 7 Deserts Run (40 marathons across 7 deserts in 7 weeks). In 2017, she ran the River Run (40 marathons across 6 rivers in 40 days). And in 2018, she attempted 100 marathons in 100 days for the Running Dry campaign. She broke her leg on marathon 62 with people around the world uniting to help complete the campaign. Through these campaigns, Mina has built a community of water advocates in more than 190 states and territories.
Mina has committed her life to the water crisis because she believes we can be the solution. For more information visit minaguli.com.
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Photos and video footage from the Run Blue campaign are available for media use and can be found here.
The world is experiencing a water crisis. Drought, flooding or pollution is how most of us will experience this climate emergency – yet water is often missing from global conversations. Run Blue is a global campaign to move the world on water by uniting business, NGOs, government and the general public in the lead-up to the UN 2023 Water Conference in March, 2023. The #RunBlue campaign asks that no matter what you run in your life - your household, your company, your daily decisions - you RUN ‘it’ BLUE, putting water front-of-mind.
#RunBlue is supported by the Netherlands and Tajikistan governments, Bayer, WBCSD & WWF.
As part of Run Blue, Mina is meeting with key industry and business bodies, NGOs and government officials to ensure urgent action on water is on the agenda at high-level stakeholder events including Dushanbe and COP27. Mina’s growing social channels are amplifying the water stories she has encountered on her journey through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
