6/10 - Gorilla Marketing in Brussels

  • Runner: Simon Isaacs
  • Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Currently Resides: Kigali, Rwanda
  • Language(s): English, French, Spanish & Italian (fluent), Portuguese & Norwegian (basic)
  • Family:
  • Statement: “At a personal level, Blue Planet Run provides a rare opportunity to integrate my love for running with my commitment to improve the lives of the poor, disenfranchised and marginalized around the world.” – Simon Isaacs, 2007

Armed with a roll of Blue Planet Run stickers I took to the streets of Brussels – running from the city’s outskirts into the Place de Broukere in the center of the city. With just 7 miles left to run and with ample time to spare, I stopped along the way to stick those along the route –children with their parents, teenagers smoking in cafes, men and women pumping gas… nobody was safe. With each sticker, I would stop for a few seconds to share our mission and the message: “we run for water.” Certainly, these drive-bys (or run-bys) were far too short and a bit too silly to generate massive awareness on a serious issue – but if I reached just a handful of the 100+ people I “stuck” en route – it was well worth it.

Coming into the city-center, I was greeted with a very warm reception in the Place de Broukere where I handed off to Laurel Dudley, took a few photos with the local media and local Dow staff, and headed off for a Belgian waffle…

>From Antwerp, Netherlands – happy trails.

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Hurricane Dean

Yesterday morning, I woke up to CNN’s talking heads warning of Hurricane Dean’s destructive path toward the Caribbean.

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Activism + Water

By the late 80’s, AIDS had developed into a full fledged crisis. Despite the rapid spread of the disease, government officials remained quiet.

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Venture Philanthropy

At the eclectic Buck’s diner in Woodside, Bay area power-brokers meet over stacks of pancakes to discuss what they hope will be the next big idea.

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Make It Happen

We made it across Europe, Russia, and Asia… over 10,000 miles, one stride at a time; a truly significant accomplishment, no doubt.

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Water and Climate Change in Mongolia

Fueled by the dramatic landscape before me, I have found my second wind in Mongolia.

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Water & Tourism – The Great Baikal Trail

The internet café in Irkutsk was jammed with backpackers gripping their Lonely Planet Guidebooks and emailing home stories adventures through Russia.

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Siberia’s Ghost Towns

“In Russia we have two problems, fools and bad roads” said my guide, Yuiana as the car swerved right and left through a mine-field of deep potholes.

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(Hyrdo)Power to the People

Depicted on the back of my 10 ruble bill is the Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Dam which lies upstream of the central Russian city of Krasnoyarsk (where I am now).

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Ode to Mayonnaise

Waking up in the morning, I find you there at the breakfast table, A
dollop atop by canned peas and corn.

At lunch, you glisten off of my plate of meat dumplings. You line my

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The BPR Petri Dish

I feel like I’ve been running on a treadmill through Western Siberia. My heart pumps, my legs move – but the horizon, though beautiful, goes unchanged.

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