You've. Freaking. Got. This @runemz

I am constantly inspired by folks that I "meet" on the interwebz but every once in a while I come across someone who completely blows my mind.   Someone whose passion for life and all that it offers just radiates through the screen.  Someone whose personality just exudes joy, happiness & positivity.  Someone who is physically capable of truly amazing things and yet is so humble and grateful. 

Folks, meet Emily Eliason a.k.a Run Emz

I discovered Emz because of an instagram challenge put out there this past March from the folks at FurtherFasterForever.  She liked one of my challenge pics so of course, I went to her profile to see what she was all about.  After a perusing a few pictures and dying with laughter over her creative hashtags, I was duly impressed and I immediately hit follow. 

For those of you that don't know her,  I'll give you a little background on her.  She is an ultra runner and a supah fast marathoner (3:16 I do believe).  While those are all amazing things, the most impressive thing about her is that she runs 99.9% of all of her runs on a TREADMILL.  Yes folks, a treadmill.  She finds it to be more forgiving on her knees vs. the road.  And the miles that she logs on this are SERIOUS miles.  Almost all of the time she runs without TV or music.  THAT to me, is just plain amazing. The mental fortitude that takes is awe inspiring. 

Two years ago this incredible woman did a 24 hour treadmill run to raise money for The Sojourner Center, a shelter for battered women, located in Arizona.  She covered just over 100 miles in 24 hours. 

Guess what folks?  She's doing it again.  This time to raise funds to education in India through Effect.org.  There's obviously a gigantic heart behind those strong legs and lungs. 

Here are the deets: 

If you want to donate you can do so here on Rally.org

If you're lucky enough to be in the San Francisco area you can actually go and support Emily in person at Rallypad starting Thursday Sept 12th.  Brian at Pavement Runner blogged about it here.

You can also support her by ordering one of her awesome limited edition RunEmz shirts from ikunaapparel.com.   There is a free shipping code as well:  EMZEVENT - I'm not sure if it's just for the US or if it covers Canada as well.  Guess I'll find out when I purchase mine!

If you haven't already, look her up on instagram, twitter and facebook and hit that follow button for a daily dose of inspiration. 

And more importantly....donate!