Last fall, Australian Mina Guli set out to run 100 marathons in 100 days. She wanted to make headlines – but not for herself. She was trying to get the word out about water scarcity – an issue growing worse with climate change.

Guli: “Experts already predict that by 2030 we will have a 40% greater demand for water than the supply of water available.”

Guli says when she started learning about this crisis …

Guli: “I could not believe that everybody on the planet wasn’t talking about water and I decided I wanted to do something about it.”

During her recent campaign, she ran – not in organized races, but on her own – in places such as China, South Africa, and Jordan that face water shortages. She tweeted and blogged about the people she met and the stories they shared.

A stress fracture forced Guli to stop running after 62 marathons, but her followers took over – running in their home countries, logging miles on social media, and posting about water.

Guli: “The way in which this global community has come out and said, ‘We’ll put our hands up, we care about water too, and let us be part of this movement,’ that has just been the most incredible experience I could ever imagine.”

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media.