World record-holder Katie Spotz to run Ohio to Erie Trail to fund clean water projects in Uganda

When Katie Spotz runs, she thinks of everything and nothing all at once. She scans her body as she bounds forward. Is she breathing deeply from her belly? Is her posture straight? Is she hydrated and nourished enough? Is she comfortable? Chaffing? The questions flow through the back of her mind with each step she takes.

All the while she stays laser-focused on her feet. They hit the ground one after the other, keeping pace as nature scenes and passersby whir past in her periphery. Her head stays clear. The first 10 minutes of a run are always the hardest, she said, but once she starts, finishing becomes that much easier.

“I always thought that you need to be motivated to start, and now I think that starting is what makes you feel motivated to continue,” she said. “Motivation happens because of movement, not because of stagnation.”

Last September, Spotz ran 138 miles across Maine, where she currently lives, becoming the first person to ever complete the trek. A month before that, she became the first woman to run nonstop across Vermont, traveling 74 miles in 13 hours. And two months before that, she became the first woman to run 62 miles nonstop through New Hampshire, finishing in just over 11 hours.

You can head here to learn more about Spotz's RUn4Water initiative.