Cape Town – Water advocate and ultra-runner Mina Guli’s #RunningDry movement saw people from all over the world completing more than 200 marathons on Sunday to raise awareness of the global water crisis.
Guli originally set out to run 100 marathons in 100 consecutive days around the world, before having to readjust her vision upon breaking her femur during marathon number 62.
The global community have rallied around her, logging marathons for her on social media every day since then. After announcing her injury on January 5, collectively more than 2 2747.4km have been logged, including Sunday’s mammoth effort.
Thousands of people across the world laced up their running shoes to help Guli reach the target of collectively running and walking more than 100 marathons in one day to raise awareness about the global water crisis.
People logged marathons from 44 different countries and territories - from Antarctica to Sweden, Mexico to Japan, Australia to Serbia and many places in between.
“I have always believed in the power of the people to change the world. On Sunday we saw that happen. I’m inspired for our future and the future of our planet. Together we truly can make a difference in how we see and think about water.
“We had distances from 1km to more than 50km, in temperatures from minus 15ºC to more than 40ºC.
“We had people running in deserts, snow and forests. We had people running by rivers and others by oceans and waterways. Some ran in cities and on tracks.
"Some ran in groups and others on their own. But every single one of them donated their miles on Sunday to support our campaign and help drive global water awareness. Every step and every drop counts.”
Guli will be travelling to the US later this week to continue her #RunningDry campaign to meet with people in areas already being affected by the water crisis, as well as the inspiring water heroes who are already doing what they can to help turn this crisis around.
She will finish her epic journey back where she began, in New York City, on February 11, having spent 100 days campaigning around the world for water.
To find out more about the #RunningDry campaign and to log your kilometres, visit Guli’s social media pages or her website at www.minaguli.com