Water advocate heads ‘home’ to complete stage four of 7 Desert Run

Running across Antarctica …

Australian Mina Guli set to run over 250 km in the Simpson Desert, Australia.

Challenge to take place from Friday 26th February – Thursday 3rd March

It’s out of the freezer and into the furnace for water advocate Mina Guli this week as she continues her epic marathon-running exploits in Australia – just days after completing 189 kilometres over four days in the desolate, polar desert of Antarctica.

Born in Melbourne, this leg represents a ‘homecoming’ for Mina who, as well as pounding through desert, is also looking to bring home the issues surrounding global water scarcity. Ranked the number one problem facing society by the World Economic Forum, the extent of the global water supply crisis is highlighted within the make-up of the challenge itself. By 2030, global demand for useable water will outstrip supply by 40 per cent, inspiring Mina to run 40 marathons, across seven deserts on seven continents, in seven weeks to raise awareness of the issue.

The Australian leg serves to further break the illusion that water scarcity is a third-world problem. Diminishing rainfall and wider climate issues have seen Australian cities take drastic measures to supply their citizens with water, with Perth especially leading the way in revolutionary water supply methods. However, in the areas Mina will be running, the economical resources and means to source water are lacking – showing a real ‘two-nation’ battle within Australia when it comes to water scarcity.

Ahead of the fourth leg of her challenge, Mina said: “After months of research and planning, it is both exciting and daunting to be heading back to my homeland. Having broken my back at 22 years old and being told I would never run again makes this leg of the challenge is particularly important to me.

“I cannot believe I am about to hit the halfway mark of my challenge, but I know I still have so much further to go. Having the support of my fellow Australians around me at such a crucial part of my challenge gives me the boost I need after the exhaustion, and cold, of Antarctica.

“Each desert I have run through gives me a new insight into the problems nations’ and their people suffer from water scarcity and Australia will be no different. My hope is that this run will not only document and broadcast the crises faced in Oz, but also demonstrate my pledge to raise awareness and make a change – inspiring others to do the same in the process.

“The issue of water scarcity may feel bigger than you as an individual but everyone can make a difference through making pledges in their every day lives. Whether its walking to work, drinking beer rather than wine, skipping a chocolate bar or eating chicken rather than beef – small changes in attitude by consumers can help to influence corporate supply chains and save vast amounts of water.”

Having already run a cumulative distance of over 700 km in Spain, Jordan and Antarctica, Mina has seen first hand the very real human fight for survival in the context of water scarcity. In Spain’s Tabernas Desert, the community face a constant struggle to meet increasing agricultural demand on the backdrop of shrinking riverbeds. While bone-dry riverbeds provided some of the best running paths for Mina in the Tabernas, the uncomfortable truth that they were full-flowing just 15 years earlier highlights the dangers facing a community heavily reliant on water for meeting agricultural demands.

With agricultural challenges the main theme in Spain, water scarcity as a humanitarian crisis was seen most starkly in Jordan. The desert nation only has enough water to sustain 40 per cent of its own 8.1 million population, so the influx of refugees fleeing wars in Syria and Yemen, coupled with lower rainfall, has had an even more devastating effect. Such is the lack of water in Jordan, locals have suggested that they will soon become ‘water refugees’ – leaving Jordan for neighbouring countries in search of water.

A complete contrast to the deserts Mina had run through previously, Antarctica – the world’s largest and driest desert – plays an important part in Mina’s challenge in highlighting the correlation between climate change and water scarcity. As one of the fastest warming areas on earth, Antarctica continues to be effected by climate change.

The melting of inland glaciers, although increasing water supply in the short to medium-term, will cease once these glaciers have melted. In the long-term, the overall effect of this intensification of the water cycle will lead to droughts around the world. Climate change also increases the amount of water that the atmosphere can hold which, although leading to more and heavier rainfall, leads to a more rapid movement of water from the atmosphere back to the oceans, reducing our ability to store and use it.

Mina’s run in Antarctica was one rife with dangers. There was a constant battle against the elements with Mina running in sub-zero conditions in specially designed survival gear to prevent frostbite. Large parts of Mina’s run also consisted of her focussing on strategically placed route markers for her to avoid concealed crevasses as well as acting as targets for visibility with the lands end often merging with the horizon.

More on Water Scarcity

Water is a big problem. Water demand continuing to exceed supply at an alarming rate and without change in business practices and consumer behaviour, by 2030 our demand for water will be 40 per cent greater than supplies available. A critically important figure, this forecast is what led Mina to take on a minimum of 40 marathons during her challenge.

On average, 92 per cent of total global water consumption is nearly all used in food production, while only 8 per cent is accounted for by domestic water use, such as drinking, cleaning, washing, and for the production of industrial products such as steel, paper and clothing .

As well as raising awareness, Mina aims to build a community of water conscious consumers, working together to take steps to reduce their invisible water consumption and save one billion litres of water. From choosing tea over coffee (saving 118 litres of water per cup ) or chicken over beef (saving 2,218 litres of water per 200g of meat ), Mina’s message is that consumers can do small things to save vast amounts of water every day.

Water usage has had devastating effects across the globe as 650 million people live without water . Only 0.007 per cent of the planet’s water is available to fuel and feed its 6.8 billion people as almost all water is unsafe or unavailable for use . By 2025, 1.8 billion people, almost a third of the world’s population, will experience absolute water scarcity. In 2009, Barcelona – one of the world’s highly developed cities – ran out of water and had to import from Marseille, Tarragona and Almeria, showing the real issue of water scarcity in first and third world countries.

You can follow Mina’s journey via her charity, Thirst. Visit the website www.thirstforwater.com/pledge to join the Water Pledge. Follow Thirst on Twitter (@Thirst4Water) and Facebook (Thirst) to stay up to date with the campaign, or use #Run4Water to join the conversation.

The Route:

Run 1 – Tabernas Desert (Spain) | 1st – 6th February

Run 2 – Arabian Desert (Jordan) | 8th – 14th February

Run 3 – Antarctica Polar Desert (Antarctica) | 18th – 23rd February

Run 4 – Simpson Desert (Australia) | 26th February – 1st March

Run 5 – Richtersveld Desert (South Africa) | 4th – 9th March

Run 6 – Atacama Desert (Chile) | 12th – 16th March

Run 7 – Mojave Desert (Unites States of America) | 17th – 22nd March

NOTE: Each run will vary in distance with land temperatures expected to be between -23°C and 38°C. In each country Mina intends to run the equivalent of one marathon a day for six straight days.

About Mina Guli:

Mina Guli is a water advocate, an environmental lawyer and a pioneer athlete. At 22, Mina was told she would never be able to run again after breaking her back but has since completed several ironman events and the daunting Marathon Des Sables, a six-day, 251km ultra marathon across the Sahara Desert. Mina is a leading figure in efforts to protect the world’s water supplies. In 2010 she was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and in 2011, she was named one of Australia’s “50 for the future”.

About Thirst:

Thirst is a group that promotes saving water by educating young people, dedicated to changing the way the world thinks about, uses & consumes water. Launched on World Water Day in 2012 by Mina Guli, the charity looks to arm companies and individuals with knowledge of the water crisis through education initiatives, unique outreach projects and a large engagement network.

Thirst’s vision is to build a grassroots community of Water Heroes – companies and individuals working together to create a shift in purchasing behaviour, with consumers favouring water-sustainable products.
Nicola Franklin