Mina Guli Completes 800km Seine River Run
World First: Mina Guli finishes epic Seine River Run to call for restoration of the world’s rivers ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics
Le Havre, 4 July - Mina Guli, the globally renowned water and environmental advocate, splashed into the sea today at the end of her epic run down the Seine River ahead of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games – having run over 800km since setting off from its source on June 5th.
Mina ran the last leg of the #SeineRiverRun today through Le Havre to the beach. During her extraordinary journey, she ran the equivalent of 20 marathons in 30 days after leaving Source-Seine, witnessing the river grow from a tiny stream to the wide river that flows through Paris and on to the sea.
Having completed 200 marathons in 32 countries in 1 year for water during the first phase of Run Blue in 2022-23, Mina ran along France’s most iconic river to draw attention to the immense efforts being made to clean up the Seine and the need for all cities and countries to restore their rivers to help tackle water, climate, and nature crises.
On finally reaching the sea, Mina Guli said: “I did it! 800kms along the Seine through forests, fields and the heart of Paris. I’m not going to lie: there were some tough days. But I did the #SeineRiverRun to show that we can all do hard things – like cleaning up France’s most iconic river. Everywhere I ran in the past month, I met people who value and depend on the river, and have watched it coming back to life. As the world gathers in Paris for the 2024 Games, the transformation of the Seine is a beacon of hope and a clarion call to other cities worldwide: restore your rivers to benefit your people and nature.”
Highlights of the #SeineRiverRun
June 5: Start at Source-Seine
June 20: Run in Paris with Pierre Rabadan, Deputy Mayor in charge of sports, the Olympics and Paralympics, and the Seine
June 22: Swim in the Seine
June 29: Urban Trail in Rouen
July 4: Finale on the beach at Le Havre
Mina ran the entire length of the Seine to celebrate the immense efforts to restore the river. The Paris government is committed to cleaning up the river so it is once again safe enough to swim in – 100 years after swimming was banned – and has invested over EUR1 billion.
But it is not just the Seine that needs restoring. Healthy rivers are central to enhancing water and food security, reversing nature loss and adapting to climate change. But across the globe, they have been dammed, drained, dredged and polluted, undermining the diverse benefits they provide to people and nature.
The importance of healthy rivers is rising up the international agenda with countries committing to restore 30% of degraded ‘inland waters’ by 2030 as part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the Global Stocktake at COP28 in Dubai highlighting the importance of water and rivers to climate adaptation.
But there is an urgent need to accelerate action and not only by governments: businesses and financial institutions also need to invest more in restoring healthy rivers since they are essential to a resilient and sustainable future.
Along with the Founding Partner, Grundfos, the Seine River Run was backed by a diverse range of partners, including the City of Paris, WWF, Asics, UNEP, Rotary International, Xylem, the Dutch Valuing Water Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Rowing Club.
The SeineRiverRun is also the prologue to the next even more ambitious phase of the RunBlue campaign - the ‘World River Run’, which will see Mina run 20,000km in 2025-26 along 20 rivers on six continents to inspire governments, businesses and communities to take action to protect and restore our rivers.
# # #
For more information:
Photos and b-roll for the media: Fantastic photos from the #SeineRiverRun are available here along with video b-roll which is available here (we have more photos & video if needed). Images from Mina’s previous RunBlue campaign around the world are available can be found here.
About Run Blue
Run Blue is a campaign led by the Thirst Foundation – a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness, bringing urgency to stakeholders and delivering meaningful action on water. Established in 2012, Thirst's mission is to close the gap in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal number 6, which is to ensure that every person around the world has access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Mina Guli is the CEO of Thirst (thirstfoundation.org)
