Follow on Spotify | Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Amazon | Pocket Casts | iHeartRadio | other platforms
The outfit you’re wearing right now took more water to make than you’ll drink before you turn 40. (The cotton, the nylon, the phone in your pocket, this morning’s coffee: all of it runs on water.)
Mina Guli has spent a decade running to make that water visible. This summer, that meant 2,000 miles along the Colorado River, alarms at 1:30 a.m. to beat 120-degree heat, and $32 million in new commitments to the river basin by the end.
She also calls herself “the biggest chicken on the planet,” and before this run she had never backpacked overnight. She learned the skills, built the systems, and brought the right people with her.
(If that makes you want a big, scary goal of your own, the Trail Running Sisterhood opens applications November 2: 36 women running their first trail ultra or trail half marathon at Wild Woman Trail Runs in June 2027. Get on the interest list here.)
Mina Guli is a water advocate and ultrarunner. After a 15-year career in law, finance, and climate change, she founded Thirst Foundation, a nonprofit focused on changing how we think about water. She has since logged more than 25,000 miles during global advocacy campaigns, including Keep the River Running, her longest single-river run to date. She has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of Fortune’s 50 greatest leaders in the world.
Mina started all this in 2016 with no running background (by her own account, she didn’t even like running). Through the Grand Canyon, she ran with Sunny Stroeer, an endurance athlete who knows the canyon like the back of her hand. Full disclosure: Sunny is also the executive director of the GEA Alliance, which presents this podcast.
Mina and Angie talked about:
Why the clothes you’re wearing took more water to make than you’ll drink before age 40
“If climate is a shark, water is the teeth”
Why the Colorado River: 40 million people, $1.2 trillion in economic activity, and 90% of winter leafy greens
Building a pie factory instead of dividing up the crumbs: fragmentation, financing, and future-proofing
Planning a 2,000-mile summer run around wildfires, drought, and 150-degree sun
Choosing 25 kilos of water over pack rafts at the top of the Nankoweap Trail
Crying on a flat rock halfway down, and what Mina realized there
The viral Deer Creek video and what the comment section missed about two women in their 50s
Why adventure media rewards the scariest-looking clip over the useful how-to
Running 200 marathons in 32 countries, hearing crickets, and redesigning the campaign around outcomes
How Keep the River Running secured $32 million from the Coca-Cola Foundation, Amazon, and Grundfos
What you can do about water without lacing up
Listen: Follow on Spotify | Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Amazon | Pocket Casts | iHeartRadio | other platforms
Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!
Make sure you subscribe to the See Her Outside Podcast so you don’t miss a story!