Crazy Sevens

Imagine running seven half marathons... on all seven continents... in seven consecutive days.

Well Denver Charity Miler, Karen "Casey" Cortese (second from the left above) is about to do just that. This Wednesday she will board a plane to Australia where she will begin an extraordinary undertaking known as the Triple Seven Quest.

The Quest begins with a half marathon in Melbourne, Australia on February 8th. Upon finishing that race, Casey will board a plane to a half marathon in Abu Dabi on the 9th... and then to one in Paris, France... and then to one in Tunis, Tunisia... and then to one in Long Island, New York... and then to one in Punta Arenas, Chile... and finally to one King George Island, Antarctica.

That's 91.7 miles on the ground and 39,464 miles in the air. She'll get to spend only one night sleeping in a hotel room. Up until this point, Casey has run only six half marathons in her life!

"When a friend told me about the Quest," says Casey, "my first thought was, 'Why would anyone do something like that?'  But when the only reason I could come up with for not participating was, 'because it will be really, really, really, REALLY hard,' I signed up."

Now that's the spirit!

But Casey wants to make the Quest about more than just running, and is using the Quest to raise money (over $8,500 so far!) for our awesome friends at Girls on The Run.

"When I thought about why I was doing this," says Casey, "I realized that it was about conquering fear. It's about overcoming the mental obstacles we all throw in our own way when trying something that seems out of our reach. And I realized that if my race in any way could help inspire young girls to realize their full potential, that it would be one of the best and most rewarding things about this entire journey."

Well, I'm not a young girl, but I'm incredibly inspired. And I'm sure that you'll all be inspired too. You can follow Casey on her adventure through her blog, crazygirlruns.com. If you'd like to send her some positive vibes, please send us an email here (with subject "Go Casey" if possible). And, of course, let's all do some CharityMiles for Girls on the Run in Casey's honor!