Running for water - the remarkable Mina Guli
Mina Guli has run 40 marathons across seven deserts on seven continents in seven weeks. Why? To raise awareness of the global water crises.
Every week we will profile someone who has made waves in the world of water, and to kick off our special series we want to introduce you to Mina Guli - a remarkable leader, entrepreneur and adventurer, and the reason we are called 'Make Water Famous'!
Following a successful 15-year career in law, finance and climate change, Mina established a non-profit called Thirst – a young global leaders initiative dedicated to changing the way we think about water.
Since its launch in 2012, Thirst has educated more than 2 million students in China, trended on Chinese social media, set a Guinness World Record, run innovation competitions with the participation of over 700,000 students and now works with thousands of qualified volunteers and schools across China with the support of the Chinese Government.
"We want to make saving water famous. To create a global community of water-conscious citizens who care about water, and are willing to act to avert the global water crisis. We need to make saving water not just the right thing to do, but the only thing to do."
Mina is also a keen ultra-distance athlete, having started running only at the age of 22 after a severe injury. She runs to raise awareness and inspire action around the global water crisis and in doing so, has set three world firsts.
In 2016 in just seven weeks, Mina ran 40 marathons across seven deserts on seven continents, including Antarctica – a continent that left an indelible impression on her for its critical role in the water cycle.
In 2017, Mina ran 40 marathons in 40 days on six continents down six of the World’s great rivers – to promote the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 (water).
Along each of her routes, Mina interviewed local people and water experts, helping to bring the real stories of those affected by, and working to tackle, the water crisis.
In 2018 Mina set out to run 100 marathons in 100 days to share stories of the global water crisis in a campaign known as #RunningDry. After 62 marathons in 62 days, Mina ran so hard she broke her leg… but even that didn’t stop the #RunningDry movement - it made it stronger.
When she shared the news about her injury on social media, support flooded in and followers all over the world offered to run a marathon for Mina – to keep #RunningDry going and ensure she completed 100 marathons in 100 days. Currently Mina is working to draw attention to the urgent need for wetland conservation through the #WorldWetlandsRun, which is a a four-day run-walk everyone can get involved with, taking place 2-5 February 2022.
Mina is an inspiration to millions of water activists around the world and her tireless campaigning has grown to epic proportions - with 2.8 billion people reached by messaging from the #RunningDry movement alone.
Mina truly is working to make water famous and we cannot think of anyone better to kick off our special series of water stars. To find out more or get involved, go to Mina Guli or follow her on Twitter @minaguli