Mina Guli: Blue Run Marathon in The Hague

Mina Guli

In the run-up to the UN Water Conference Mina Guli runs 200 marathons a year to draw attention to the Conference. Mina Guli, water activist and ultramarathon runner, is founder of the organization Thirst Foundation. She has set up the R(UN) Blue campaign in which she will run 200 marathons all over the world. The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness about water issues, make the urgency tangible and encourage water-oriented actions in line with SDG 6: clean water and sanitation. This project receives a lot of attention from the international press (The Guardian article) and is supported by the Dutch government through the Valuing Water Initiative.

Mina Guli in The Hague

Water plays an important role not only locally, but also locally. Dunea, drinking water company of The Hague, gives the signal that the production of drinking water will come under pressure in the near future.

On September 22, Mina Guli ran her 98th marathon in The Hague. She ran past several important water projects in The Hague. The last 6.6 kilometers were extra special; here Mina was accompanied by several runners from the municipality of The Hague, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RvO).

This 6.6 km part of the run started at the Peace Palace and ended at the Watertower at Scheveningen. At the Peace Palace Alderman Van Asten gave an inspiring speech. 

After the speech, the run started. The runners, including the Alderman, ran across important places in The Hague. For example, Museon where there is currently the exhibition 'One Planet' which focuses on the SDGs, Johan de Wittlaan with flags of all countries and ended at the dunes. The dunes are important for coastal protection and the storage of drinking water. 

The fact that The Hague as an international city is connected to the theme of water is shown by this run. 

From Here On

On Saturday September 24th Mina Guli ran her 99th marathon in Amsterdam. The day after, on the 25th of September, she ran her 100th (!) marathon in The Hague during the City-Pier-City Loop.

After her stay in The Netherlands, she will continue to travel to Belgium, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. Europe is followed by the Middle East, Latin America and the United States. Mina Guli will finish the 200th marathon on the steps of the United Nations headquarters in New York.

https://running.nl/mina-guli-ultraloopster-met-een-missie-voor-de-mondiale-watercrisis/