We protect what we love

FRIDAY 10.03.2023.

Good morning incredible people of FWP.

With people in Hobart, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra layering up and those based everywhere else trying to stay cool during another heat wave amongst this contrasting weather, we hope you managed to still enjoy the great outdoors.

I note that Wednesday was International Women's Day, and I would like to first acknowledge the incredible women of FWP. I consider myself very lucky that I get to work with, be inspired by, learn from and share trails with such a amazing bunch of humans, who happen to be women. I also saw an awesome post on IG by The Female Athlete Project that is applicable to every industry, career, job role and life circumstance that i'd really like to share (in case you missed it):

invest in women

invest in women in leadership

invest in women of colour

invest in women in sport

invest in women with a disability

invest in women in coaching

invest in women from the LGBTQIA+ community

invest in women

Some of the incredible women of FWP: Elanor, Flick, Paige, Lauren, Julie, Hilary and Liz.

This week, we had the privilege of chatting with Mina Guli, founder of Thirst Foundation, about her current campaign to run 200 marathons in one year, all over the world, in areas on the frontlines of the water crisis.

Mina is a world-renowned water campaigner and ultramarathon runner. She is currently running the last 10 marathons of this epic campaign, which will end on March 21, 2023 with her 200th marathon finishing on the steps of the UN in New York at the opening of the UN Water Conference, the first one for water in almost 50 years.

Mina's mission is a perfect example of how sports activism can be used to increase awareness, drive stakeholder urgency and deliver meaningful action on the resource that connects everyone - water. We chat about why running marathons was the sport of choice, the goals of the campaign, the importance of the water crisis and what you can do in your everyday. We hope you enjoy reading the Q&A as much as we did.

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Q&A WITH THIRST FOUNDATION

Mina Guli, founder and CEO of Thirst Foundation (Plitvicka, Croatia). 📷 Oliver Wolff.

What is the World Water Run and how do I sign up?

The World Water Run is one of Thirst Foundation’s yearly global virtual activations that encourages people from all over the world to run (or walk!) for change and action on water.

• There is no cost to sign up
• You will receive your virtual bib once you’ve signed up to share with your friends to encourage them to sign up as well
• You can sign up as an individual or as a group if you want to encourage your colleagues to join as well or are part of a running group and want to participate together
• You can choose your own distance for the World Water Run, anywhere between 1km and 42km
• You can run the entire distance in one day or spread it out for the duration of the event through the week. It’s up to you!

We would love you to get your friends and family to sign up as well so that you can challenge and encourage each other. You can find a share pack for use on social media on our website to help raise awareness and spread the word. Use the hashtag #WorldWaterRun when you post on social media.

How did the World Water Run come about?

I believe that running can make a difference as it is a form of exercise easily accessible to people all over the world. I have run before in previous campaigns and it was during my last campaign where I tried to run 100 marathons in 100 days that I really grasped the power a global community can have when we come together for a cause. I broke my leg during marathon 62 and could not continue. I thought the campaign was over but people from all over the world came together to dedicate their kilometers to water - and they finished my 100 marathons for me when I could not.

Mina runs marathon 180 in and around Page, Arizona, USA. The route runs along Lake Powell on the rim trail and finishes in Antelope Canyon. 📷 Simon Pocock.

This inspired us to create a series of global running activations since then, including World River Run, World Wetland Run and our most popular activation, Sweat4Soap, where every kilometer results in a bar of soap being donated to someone in need. Last year’s Sweat4Soap saw over 425,000 bars of soap donated by our partner, Eco-Soap Bank to those in need in the Cox’s Bazaar refugee camp in Bangladesh. Running made a huge, tangible difference to these people’s lives.

This year we have recently launched sign ups for our World Water Run, which in recent years has seen people from over 197 countries and territories run (or walk!) for change and action for water. This year’s activation runs from the 16-22 March, the final date which coincides with my 200th marathon of my Run Blue campaign and the opening of the UN Water Conference in New York, the first conference on water in almost 50 years.

Why did you choose marathons as your way to raise awareness about the water crisis?

I have said it many times before that I am not a runner and I do not enjoy running. I chose running because it is hard, and I wanted to show that we have the capacity to achieve hard things and reach big goals, one step at a time. This is why I run. To raise awareness and show that small steps can make big change happen. For many, running a marathon can feel like an impossible challenge but if you take it one step at a time, before you know it you’ve done 1km, and then another, and suddenly you’ve finished a full marathon of 42.4km. You get to the end and look back and see that you’ve achieved something remarkable. 

What do you hope to achieve with these marathon-based campaigns?

When I started running I wanted to bring attention to the water crisis - to go to the frontlines of the problem and lift up the voices of the people suffering from it and still working to solve it. My rationale was that if I could close the gap between decision makers in the corridors of power and in the boardrooms, we would start to cure what I call ‘water blindness’, and by getting CEOs and business leaders to understand the true situation on the ground, we would have better and smarter water decisions.

Marathons are important and highly symbolic - the 42.2km are representative of the percentage gap experts forecast will exist between demand and supply of water by 2030, as well as the number of people in the world right now that experience water scarcity at least part of the year. They’re also important for what they represent in just pure difficulty and challenge. To coin a phrase from Princess Bride “This won’t be easy - anyone telling you otherwise is lying”. It’s true - change in water will require us to do some tough things, but by doing these marathons - many in some of the toughest and most challenging places on the planet, I want to show that we are capable of doing those tough things - running 200 marathons or solving the global water crisis.

This is my ultimate goal - not only to show that we can do the hard things that are needed to solve this global water crisis, but to bring these grassroots stories, the messages and pleas that people have shared with me to the decision makers and leaders present at the UN Water Conference in NYC, and to help drive the change we all need on water.

Mina running marathon no. 119 of 200 in the Wadi Arab Dam in Jordan during the Run Blue campaign to raise awareness, create urgency and drive action on water. Xavier Briel.

Why is it important to talk about the water crisis now?

Water is everything. Without water, we have nothing - no farms, no communities, no economies, no societies. And yet, some years ago, I realised that the world’s water crisis was largely invisible. Not to the people on the frontline of the crisis but it wasn’t on the TV news or on the front page of newspapers. Nor was it number one on the list of priorities for people in the corridors of political, corporate or financial power. And I realised that this had to change if we were ever going to tackle the crisis. 

Billions of people across the world talk about water every day because it is a matter of their health, their food, their farm or their business. The challenge is that most decision makers are not prioritising water and freshwater ecosystems, even though they are fundamental to our future.

At the moment, three huge topics dominate many conversations - climate change, the loss of nature and how to achieve sustainable development. Water is seldom at the forefront of these debates. Yet water and healthy rivers, lakes and wetlands are central to tackling the climate and nature crises, and driving sustainable development.

Unfortunately, many people undervalue and overlook water. How many people have any idea about their water footprint? The water we use is not only quantified by the water we use directly to cook, clean and drink in our daily lives. Water goes into everything we use, buy and consume from the clothes we wear to the power to charge our phones. For many people, the water that was used to make the clothes they wear on any given day is probably more than all the water they will drink in their first 40 years of life. And that is just one outfit.

This is why I run. To help end this ‘water blindness’ and make people realise the scale of the global water crisis, the fact that everything is connected to water, and the urgent need for action. 

Mina runs through the narrow streets of the Sao Paulo favela, Paraisópolis. 📷 Kelvin Trautman.

What else can I do in my everyday life to be more water aware?

Everyone has a role to play because every single drop counts. As an individual, there are lots of ways to take action on water. You can reduce the amount of water you use at home by turning off the tap when you brush your teeth and taking shorter showers. You can reuse/recycle your clothes and reduce your food waste - as these will both reduce your overall water consumption.

But you can also push for change outside your house - by ensuring your company has a proper water strategy, by taking steps to improve the health of your local rivers, lakes and wetlands, and where you can - voting for people who put water at the heart of their policies. This is why I am asking everyone, everywhere, no matter what you run in your lives - your company, your household or your daily decisions - I’m asking you to run it blue. Water should always be front of mind.

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Trail Chat #11 with Lucy Bartholomew

Next up to the metaphorical Trail Chat plate is Lucy Bartholomew, who needs no introduction within the trail and ultra running audience! For those not familiar, Lucy is a trail community veteran, having been competing for 12 years, since her first 100km at the incredible age of 15. Nowadays, Lucy is best know for her incredible cooking, BFF Tani, foray into Ironman's and most recently, taking out the 100-miler at Tarawera.

Join us on Thursday 16th March at 12.00pm as we catch up with Lucy, to talk a little bit about all of the above, amongst other things! RSVP to our Trail Chat with Lucy here.

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That's all for this week, folks! Be sure to check out our events coming up below, and we hope to catch you out on the trails soon! Have a great weekend, and as always, thank you for taking the time, for wild places.

Elanor & the For Wild Places team

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UPCOMING EVENTS

11-12/03 TRACTION @ Warby Trail Fest | Details

16/03 Trail Chat #11 with Lucy Bartholomew | RSVP

18/03 TRACTION: You Yangs | RSVP

01/04 TRACTION: Otways | RSVP

06/06 TRACTION: Gariwerd | RSVP

We acknowledge the the First Nations people who have been custodians of land, waters and culture for tens of thousands of years. We pay respects to First Nations Elders past, present and emerging.

This email was compiled on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. To these people, we pay our respects.

Always was, always will be.