The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Fundraiser shifts gear from Ohio to Maine
Coronavirus curbs attempt to cross Ohio for water project
The coronavirus and related travel restrictions have caused Mentor native Katie Spotz to change her plans.
Katie Spotz will have to forgo a homecoming during her latest fundraising endurance challenge.
The coronavirus and related travel restrictions have caused the Mentor native to once again change her plans of running across Ohio.
In February, she announced that she would run consecutive marathons from the Cincinnati border to Edgewater Park in Cleveland, stopping overnight along the way.
Soon after, she switched gears to go for a world record by running nonstop along the Lake Erie coast from Michigan to Pennsylvania, Sept. 5-7.
The latest plan is to run nonstop across Maine, where she is stationed as a U.S. Coast Guard officer. If she completes the 130-mile journey, she will be the first person to do so.
“Essentially it’s the same goal of raising money for water by running some ridiculous long distance,” she said.
Her Run4Water charity challenge will benefit nonprofit Lifewater International, whose global mission is to ensure that every child has safe water.
Spotz will begin the journey Sept. 5 at the Canadian border, running south until she reaches downtown Belfast, Maine, on Sept. 6, after an anticipated 30 to 36 hours on her feet.
The trip represents 10 percent of the total distance someone in a village without water travels annually to access a water source, which ultimately is not clean and sanitary, according to a press release.
“There are hundreds of nonprofits doing great work in the field and yet more than 25 percent of new water projects fail in just three years,” Spotz said. “Lifewater creates lasting change by working on a local and regional level, and building appropriate safe water solutions. Not only are they delivering physical needs, but spiritual, offering hope and sharing the love of God to the communities they reach.”
Run4Water marks Spotz’s eighth endurance challenge to raise money for clean water projects in developing communities around the world.
She rose to the public spotlight during her 2010 campaign Row For Life. At age 22, she was the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, in 70 days.
To date, her work has impacted individuals in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, India, Honduras, Guatemala, Nigeria and more.
“Partners like Katie make this life-changing work possible,” said Lifewater Communications Director Gary Weyel.
“Because of her efforts, vulnerable families in very remote regions of Tanzania will have clean water, improved health and hope for the future.”