PUBLIX ATLANTA , HALF MARATHON & 5K

OF 30 IN 30 COUNTRIES BEFORE TURNING 30 NO.By Théoden Janes 27

In September 2018, as Liz Warner was honeymooning in Warner is a product of both Atlanta International School and Namibia, she was suddenly struck by the urge to do something Windy Hill Athletic Club, where she spent much of her youth extraordinarily crazy. playing competitive squash. Eventually, she went on to captain Which was: She’d quit her public relations job back in , the squash team at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. then chase a goal of completing 30 marathons in 30 countries She was in college when her father – also a collegiate squash by age 30 while quite literally trying to make the world a better player, who she says was a serious alcoholic and suffered from place by raising funds to be split among charities in those severe depression – died after an accidental fall in 2011. After nations. graduating in 2012, a still-reeling Warner took the first of many It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it still seemed like major leaps by moving to Tokyo despite not being able to speak a good idea as the Vinings, Georgia native, then 28, began any Japanese; there, as she worked through her grief, she found plotting out a schedule of races in exotic destinations like herself running more and more – eight miles, 10 miles, 12 miles Seychelles, Antarctica and along the Great Wall of China. at a time. She signed up for the 2013 . Now she’s just four marathons away from No. 30, with a return “Running definitely became a meditative part of my day, where to her hometown for the Publix Atlanta Marathon next on I could really be present with my thoughts and sort through her list. And while she may fall short of her fundraising goal everything in my head,” she said. of $100,000 by her 30th birthday in June, the whole thing – Upon finishing that first 26.2, Warner became hooked – on the which she named “Run to Reach” – continues to be a noble, surge of confidence it gave her, the feeling of empowerment, even awe-inspiring idea. the sense that her potential was limitless. She also became But if she knew then what she knows now … enamored with the idea of seeing the world through running. Over the next five years, she completed marathons in South “I was imagining me jet-setting across the world … and if Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, (where she you look at my Instagram, it honestly does just look like I'm moved in 2016), Lebanon (where her husband Marc is from) traveling and taking cool pictures running everywhere,” said and, in April 2018, Austria. Warner. “But I don't know if I would have pursued this project had I known how difficult it was to get sponsorship …. I had Five months after that eighth marathon, while driving through no idea about anything when I started this.” Namibia with her new husband, Marc, she began hatching her 30/30/30 plan. Two marathons later, Run to Reach launched in earnest.

86 AMERICA'S MARATHON WEEKEND The easy part would be finding, and even running, marathons. The real work, she’d learn, would involve identifying and coordinating with 1. Tokyo Marathon women-led or women-focused charity partners in each country with missions to which she felt a connection and trying to raise those elusive 2. Seoul International Marathon funds. 3. Kuala Lumpur Marathon Even the race schedule has been a work in progress. In June, after running 4. Singapore OSIM Sundown Marathon marathons and working with non-profits in Oman, Western Sahara, Guatemala and South Africa (Nos. 11-16), she reshuffled the deck. 5. Bagan Temple Marathon “When I made the initial list of marathons,” Warner said, “I was so excited 6. obviously to have this year and a half to travel that I chose places that I 7. really selfishly wanted to travel to, like Argentina or Cuba. But I think right after I'd run the race in Sierra Leone [for Street Child, which works 8. Vienna Marathon to provide better education for the country's poorest children], I just 9. thought to myself, you know, this is the time to really go to some peculiar places. It's also an interesting way for me to showcase these countries and 10. Ooredo Doha Marathon in some way also try to change the narrative of a lot of them.” 11. Al Mouj Muscat Marathon So, paradise-like Seychelles and the wondrous Great Wall of China were 12. Sahara Marathon scrapped, while war-torn Afghanistan and impoverished Côte d’Ivoire were added. So was Atlanta, because she was keen on partnering with the 13. Guatemala Impact Marathon city’s chapter of Back On My Feet, which combats homelessness through 14. Two Oceans Marathon the power of running, as well as for sentimental reasons. 15. Run the Silk Road Marathon Along the way, Warner has had unforgettable adventures – some spectacular, some soul-stirring and yes, some scary – both on and off the roads. 16. Sierra Leone Marathon At the Bagan Temple Marathon in Myanmar, she endured brutal heat and 17. Victoria Falls Marathon dust as she ran through the spires of more than 2,000 Buddhist temples. In 18. Australian Outback Marathon the days leading up to the Sahara Marathon, she dined on camel meat and stayed with a host family in the Western Sahara Refugee Camps. She said she 19. Sunrise to Sunset Marathon, Mongolia was sexually harassed before the start of the Marathon of Afghanistan but 20. Patagonia International Marathon that during the race, several locals warmly greeted runners as they passed through their tiny villages, even inviting them into their homes for tea. 21. Marathon International de Diego Suarez And last August, toward the end of the Sunrise to Sunset Marathon 22. The Marathon of Afghanistan on trails in Mongolia, she said another woman turned around and 23. Marathon de Côte d’Ivoire backtracked to help after hearing her trip and fall – despite the fact that they were competing for third place. After the race, the woman explained 24. Del Mar a la Cima Maratón that she’d been reminded of a Mongolian proverb: “The winner has many 25. Egyptian Marathon friends, the loser has good friends.” The two remain in touch. 26. Somaliland Marathon But while her itinerary (and her Instagram) may seem to tell a different story, there is a limit to Warner’s resources: She abandoned plans to do the 27. Publix Atlanta Marathon Antarctica Marathon because it was out of her price range. Sponsors have 28. Socotra International Marathon donated airline miles and she has received support in the form of race kits and countless energy gels, but she reached the bottom of her savings 29. San Juan Harbour Marathon account last summer and has been kept afloat via some money her father 30. Everest Marathon left behind. “It felt like in some way carrying on the legacy of my dad,” she said, “because he was a huge traveler and loved adventure .… I mean, my goal in life is to live a life full of stories, and I think on the career track I had FOR MORE INFO… been taking it was sort of just, you know, home, the Metro or the train to To donate and learn more about the projects work, back home, and following this routine. I wanted to exhaust my full Liz Warner is supporting through Run to potential and push myself to do something that was really scary. Reach – from raising money to buy running shoes for girls in Afghanistan to funding “And from the beginning, I made the decision to go through with this girls’ school uniforms in Zimbabwe – visit project thinking that in 20 years’ time I could look back and, no matter http://runtoreach.com/virtual-gifts. Follow what happened, know that I at least tried to do something a little bit crazy Warner on Instagram at @runtoreach. that might make an impact.” Photos: Courtesy of Liz Warner Courtesy Photos:

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