Dig Deep to Achieve, and to Support What You Believe

“Digging deep” during the inaugural 2012 Grand to Grand Ultra, traversing sandy terrain managed by the BLM. Part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument forms the background.

(This post has been updated; see update below in italics.)

“Dig deep,” we tell ourselves in ultrarunning when we need to cope with discomfort and push past perceived limits. I will dig deep to leverage determination and endurance to do my best during the 170-mile self-supported Grand to Grand Ultra September 22 – 28.

As you know if you’ve been following this blog or social media, I’m motivated to compete in this race again in large part because I want to experience, celebrate and most of all, protect the awe-inspiring open land of the Southwest that we run through and near. To that end I have launched a campaign to raise awareness and funds for the Conservation Lands Foundation, the only nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding the National Conservation Lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Please visit my campaign site.

That’s me traversing slickrock and sand in southern Utah during the 2014 Grand to Grand Ultra. (Photo courtesy Grand to Grand Ultra)

I am gratified to have raised just over $5800 from 65 donors. But my goal is to raise at least $10,000 to significantly help this nonprofit’s advocacy work, and to fuel their support of local conservation groups throughout the West that are doing much of the hands-on stewardship of these special public lands.

When I set a goal, I do all I can to fulfill it.

Therefore I have decided to “dig deep” in another way, doing more personally. I have decided to donate more of our household’s savings to create a matching incentive. I’m asking you to support the Conservation Lands Foundation with a donation, and I will match your gift’s amount. I’m willing to match up to $2500, so if I can get $2500 in new donations in the next two weeks and I match it, then I will blow past my $10K goal!

UPDATE on Sept.21: Since I published this post, 31 additional donations came in totaling $2504. That means with the matching gift added, we’ve surpassed the $10,000 goal! I am incredibly grateful to the 96 donors. Collectively, this represents a huge boost to the work of the Conservation Lands Foundation, and to the grassroots “Friends Network” that CLF supports of 70 local conservation groups doing work in the National Conservation Lands. I go offline for the Grand to Grand Ultra tomorrow, and I would be thrilled when I get back online to see the number of donors over 100, and the total raised from donors equaling $10,000 or more, so that with the match added the grand total will be at least $12,500. Thank you for stretching to give for these public lands!

I want to achieve this in TWO WEEKS by Saturday, September 28, the day I plan to cross the finish line overlooking the multihued layers of the beautiful but imperiled Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Coincidentally, September 28 is National Public Lands Day, a day to serve and support public lands.

If you care about protecting America’s newest public lands—the BLM-managed National Conservation Lands, which is a network of national monuments, scenic and wild rivers, wilderness study areas and trails—for the sake of wildlife, the health of the ecosystem and for future generations, then please join me in supporting the Conservation Lands Foundation by donating here.

This public land is threatened in myriad ways, as those who steward it—most notably, the Bureau of Land Management under the current administration—seem bent on diminishing decades worth of conservation work. As one advocate of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument put it in this article that I encourage you to read, “It’s as if the BLM tried to promote every damaging activity they could imagine — more roads, more cattle grazing, more fuel extraction, more non-native grass seeding, more OHV use in wilderness study areas.”

I will be offline participating in the race from Saturday the 21st through Saturday the 28th. I would be so happy and grateful to discover when I get back online September 28 that enough generous donors have come forward to fulfill my goal for the sake of public lands.

Thank you so much for reading this. I hope you’ll also read the “Updates” on my crowdrise page for more info, and check out Conservation Lands Foundation’s website to understand the scope and impact of their important work.

I’m going to do a drawing for a special book and another goodie on Oct. 1 for anyone who has donated in September!

If you want more info about training and preparing for the Grand to Grand Ultra event, and how to follow the event during race week, please check out my last post. 

Thank you so much for reading and considering this appeal. I hope that in two weeks, I can celebrate not only crossing the finish line, but also fulfilling my goal to raise a significant amount of support for the National Conservation Lands.

Some of the beauty and history seen in Bears Ears National Monument, where the administration has severely scaled back protections for the land and its cultural and historical artifacts. The Conservation Lands Foundation is fighting to restore protections and the original boundary of the national monument. We visited here last May. Photo by Morgan Smith