Students work on Blue Planet Run for clean water

For every problem there is a solution, and in a world where problems seem to increase exponentially, solutions are hard to come by. So what if someone told you that a cure for the world's single largest cause of human sickness and death had been discovered, and that 25,000 people a day, 400 children an hour, could be saved?

The problem: water is essential to life and supply is scarce. The solution here is the Blue Planet Run, an international relay event developed by the Blue Planet Foundation.

"Awareness is the biggest problem with this issue right now, because we have a solution. We have the ability to solve the problem, but in order to solve the problem we need funds, and you don't get funds unless people know about it," said Patricia Breed, a former Tech student who now works as communications coordinator for ignition Inc., the experimental marketing agency hired to market and produce the Blue Planet Run, which will raise money and awareness for the water issue.

The Blue Planet Foundation itself is a non-profit whose main goal is to provide clean, sustainable water to third-world countries. It transports drinking water to areas in need through a structure called the Pure Water Exchange, which works with small, local non-governmental organizations as well as larger ones.

These organizations facilitate getting the water out to villages that pass the application process and are then reviewed on a yearly basis.

Currently, the Blue Planet Foundation is looking into global expansion. With 23 water projects already under its belt, the foundation is trying to set up more programs.

Although the Blue Planet Run itself does not track into Georgia, the foundation is looking for ways to engage the people in the state, especially on college campuses, and it is also looking for people who want to contribute or maybe even start their own local relay for the cause.

The reality of the matter is that thousands of people die every day for lack of something as simple as clean water.

Also because of this, women are locked into roles that require them to walk up to six hours a day to find food and fresh water.

"It's very dangerous. Sometimes these women have to leave late at night or early in the morning, because they can't afford to be late. The water might run out," Swanburg said.

The foundation encourages people to help by donating to its cause. Just 25 dollars has the potential to provide safe drinking water to a person for the rest of his or her life.

"Twenty-five dollars is like going to lunch two days a week, and if you can sacrifice going out to lunch two days a week to save a life, that's a pretty huge contribution," said Vicki Rokhlin, a third-year Management major.

Other things, little things, will also help, such as simply turning off the water when brushing teeth or just telling a friend and spreading the word about the Blue Planet Run.

Last year, Rokhlin was invited to work as an intern on the Blue Planet Run project at ignition Inc. Immediately after being introduced to it, she realized that this was what she wanted to do.

"It's a dream come true. You only hope that something can be so moving and so inspiring. I never knew you could combine philanthropy with business in such a cohesive way. To feel like what I'm doing, like the hours that I'm putting in, is working towards a common goal that will make a difference in the world is all that I can ask for," Rokhlin said.

So what exactly is the Blue Planet Run, and how does it work towards solving the problem?

The concept of this global relay challenge was devised by the Blue Planet Foundation's founder and chairman, Jin Zidell, who was inspired by the FIFA World Cup to use a sporting event to promote awareness, raise funds and draw people to the cause.

"[Jin] said that running is the simplest thing. It's actually really symbolic because women spend hours walking to get clean water, so the physical act of running really has something to do with it. Also, running is something someone can relate to on every continent; it's kind of like a universal non-verbal gesture," Rokhlin said.

Starting June 1st of this year in what is to be the first official Blue Planet Run, 20 qualified runners from all walks of life will join together and embark upon a journey that will take them through 16 countries and approximately 14,000 miles around the world in less than 100 days.

"The whole idea behind this project is incredible. The fact that there are people who want to do this, who believe in this, is amazing. [The Blue Planet Run] is something that's never been done before, and it sets the stage for events in the future," said Matt Swanburg, a fifth-year Management major at Tech and an ignition Inc. intern who is also working on the Blue Planet Run project.

The 20 runners were chosen out of hundreds of applicants from around the world.

The current runners hail from six different continents, and the countries that they will blitz through include the United States, Poland, Belarus, Czechoslovakia, Mongolia, China, Japan and Russia.

Beginning the relay course in New York, the athletes will work their way east, roughly across the 41st parallel.

They will run through countries that are in need of water as well as countries that are not. According to Breed, the relay will essentially include five teams of four runners, and it will operate in an almost leapfrog-like system.

When one team is running, another team will be sleeping, and there will be an entire support force that travels alongside the runners.

The daily routine of the relay will vary slightly. Typically, the runners will get up, have breakfast and run. Each participant must run for 90 minutes and then will ride in the van for four and a half hours. After the group runs, they will return to the hotel, rest and eat, and by the time they are finished running, the other team will start.

The athletes will run for four days and then rest for one. The course in any given 24 hour period will cover 160 miles, and each team will be responsible for a six-hour block of running every day.

Because of this coordinated system, the support team will always be readily available to any of the participants, and there will be time for sponsor talks, activation and media.

The Blue Planet Foundation is planning to hold the relay every other year for the next 20 years, so this upcoming 2007 Blue Planet Run will be the first of many to come.

To find out more, check out www.blueplanetrun.org.