H2ope 2011

The goal was 300 — In the past 16 weeks there have been over 4,200 Nike H2OPE
shoes sold. Nike to donate $25,000 to Operation Blessing. OBI is a charity devoted to
funding clean water projects in villages around the world that currently lack
access to local, safe water. Please join me and support H2OPE at
www.ob.org/h2ope . You can still get your – H2OPE – Nike shoes @
http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop%2Cpwp%2Cc-1+100701%2Fhf-50149+4294966954%2Ft-H2OPE

It was a long and very eventful 6 day journey through Death Valley.
Monday afternoon I crossed the 306 mile mark of my epic journey out of Nevada and
through an insanely desolate route into California including the Badwater ultra-marathon course covering 306+ miles. Thank you to my crew who did a remarkable job.Thanks to my team at Nike, inc. who inspire me to be my best. To Operation Blessing, MetaBender, PocketChange and the hundreds who did the Global Run – thank you for making this vision a reality. I put my body and mind to the test to raise money for Operation Blessing. A charity devoted to funding clean water projects in villages around the world that currently lack access to local, safe water. Please join me and support H2OPE at www.ob.org/h2ope . Make sure to get your H2OPE Nike shoes! http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop%2Cpwp%2Cc-1+100701%2Fhf-50149+4294966954%2Ft-H2OPE

Jason-

On November 1st, Jason Lester and his team ( Lisa Smith-Batchen, Amanda Mangum Esquivel, Sister Mary Beth, Catherine Ryan, Scott Morgan, Gwelle Hsu, Dave Carder ) will begin a 306 mile run across Death Valley in an effort to raise funds for Operation Blessing’s Clean Water program ( www.ob.org/h2ope ). I am sure that you have heard the facts before: Every 20 seconds a child dies of…their of thirst or a water-borne disease. One billion people on this planet lack access to safe, clean water. The devastation is staggering. The cost in human lives, each life so unique and precious, is unfathomable. The tragedy and wrongness of it cannot fail to stir the hearts of those who seek justice, love mercy and earnestly desire to be a part in making this world a better place for future generations. Official site: www.H2OPE2011.com

To help support the run you can donate HERE

Hello Epic World!

Sorry for the delay in posting. There has been so much going on…time and reality speed by at a dizzying pace making everything so surreal.

In order to keep this update linear and logical I will start with H2OPE Day at the Nike World Headquarters a few weeks ago. On Wednesday, July 27th my amazing Epic Team hosted a day of events to highlight and publicize the global clean water crisis and the 306 mile run through Death Valley that I am gearing up for in November to raise funds for clean water wells. Oh, yeah–that is one thing that I should mention; the start date of the run is now 11.1.2011 and will start live from Nike Town Las Vegas! We are so blessed that Nike has stepped up in an *amazing way and this will allow us more time to raise more money for H2OPE!



H2OPE Day: The day started out with a book signing where I met a lot of really amazing people with whom I had some great conversations. It never ceases to astound me how so many different people–people with different backgrounds, facing their own unique challenges but still following their dreams–identify with the themes I discuss in my book. Perhaps because the desire to achieve, overcome, triumph and all the while be a blessing to others is, at it’s very core, a desire built into the heart of humanity. I wonder if some ideas resonate so deeply with the human soul that the same ideas are set forth over and over, again and again throughout history, albeit in varying (but original) ways.



After the signing I attended a luncheon that my team had hosted for me so we all could show our appreciation to one another. This was such a special time for me–to be surrounded by people that have worked so hard for months to get the H2OPE project developed, planned and launched. Looking around, I was overcome by how blessed I was to have such talented and dedicated visionaries to work with. At that luncheon I was introduced to some people from Hurley (Nike’s surfing division). In the course of conversation I discovered that Hurley has been involved with a clean water charity called wavesforwater. Through this most serendipitous of meetings I found that we shared a common passion for clean water access. One conversation led to another, which led to talks of partnership that lead me to spend the past 3 days down at the US Open in Huntington Beach where Hurley is the title sponsor. The Nike, inc brand is really a dynamic platform. Nike owns Hurley, Converse, Cole Haan and Umbro. I had the great pleasure of hanging out with Ryan and Bob Hurley to discuss the H2OPE project…. without letting the cat out of the bag – let’s just say – big things are happening!!



It was so exciting–and to be honest–a total mind trip to be on the Nike campus and see posters and signs about the Badwater for Clean Water run. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something…something obvious that I just couldn’t put my finger on.

You know how when you are busy–distracted–walking around, talking to people but in the back of your mind you have the feeling that there is something there. Something you are supposed notice but that is just not fully registering at the moment. Most people brush that feeling off with a half attempt of a mental note to go back and try to figure out what it was later. Yeah….I felt like that all day long that day.

Was it the excitement of seeing how passionate the people there at Nike were about doing all that they could to address the global, desperate need for clean water? Was it the camaraderie of working with all of them to make a difference?

My thought process went something like this: “What is it that’s nagging to be noticed and recognized? I can feel it there in the back of my mind. Am I excited about today? Yeah…but that’s not it. That’s not what the silently-screaming-to-be-noticed, half-born idea in the back of my head is….is it the joy of teamwork–that I get to work with all of these amazing people to make the world a better place? yeah, but…that’s not it either…”



Then it hit me. I looked all around me. Every single person there had been an important part of developing the Las Vegas to Mt Whitney run, the promo products, the strategy, the message. Every single person there had been working so hard, using their time and talents to make this fund raiser a success because they cared about making the world better. No, that is not putting it strongly enough….every person there was passionate about doing everything in their power to make the world a better place.

That’s what it was! I was surrounded by this fascinating, selfless, sacrificing group of intelligent, gifted and driven individuals who had all been drawn together by their common desire to make the world a better place for every child, for every family, for every fellow human.

And suddenly, the world was a better place.

The realization was so much more than deciphering a casual mental note. It was a breath-taking epiphany. I had been blessed beyond all reckoning to know and work alongside these people. I was not in this alone. This is not my run, my fund raiser…because this is not just my passion. It is all of ours.



In my book Running on Faith I talk about “already being at the finish line”. About how so much of racing, conquering obstacles and overcoming life’s challenges is possible if we first win the mental game by realizing and believing that it is already finished. We are already at the finish line.

The urgent need for every person on this planet to have safe, clean water is just one issue that needs to be addressed. There are also hunger, oppression, persecution and many other issues to be addressed. But in all of these causes the end game is to make the world a better place.

When I am at the starting line of a race I am not running through a mental list of all of the obstacles I’ll have to maneuver or what pace to run when or anything technical like that. By the time I have gotten to the starting line I have spent months working on my strategy and technique. When I am about to start a race I picture myself at the finish line. I know I can do it and so there is a sense in which it is already finished. At that point, it’s just all about getting my body to where my mind already is.



This Badwater for Clean Water run is similar. Meeting all of the self-sacrificing, giving people that I have over the past several months, knowing that the world is full of caring and willing-to-do-something people has made the world a better place already. Now I just need to do all that I can to get the word out, to raise awareness and to let as many people as possible know about what can be done to solve this problem by making a donation to Operation Blessing’s clean water programs http://www.ob.org/H2OPE. It is my job to inform and inspire everyone I meet to do all they can to make a difference. It is my job to run; to run for those who are suffering, To use the gifts I’ve been given, to do what I do best–and to do it for the benefit of others. It is my job to do what I can to make the world better for everyone–and to never stop.



Please consider making a donation to fund clean water wells for those in most need at http://www.ob.org/H2OPE

And please check out the awesome H2OPE shoe that you can customize at Nike.com A portion of the proceeds from the shoe will go to Operation Blessing to help provide clean water for those who are literally dying of thirst.


Give. Represent. Educate. Inspire. Do. The hope drought ends now. Join us in ending the global clean water crisis and we’ll send you a limited edition H2OPE t-shirt. Stand up and be counted among the lifesavers. Purchase t-shirt HERE

Thank you for caring.
Thank you for taking action.
Thank you for making the world a better place.

–Jason

Okay, guys. This post will be a short one–I am headed out on a thrilling journey in the morning!

I am so excited to be here in Death Valley right now. I’m out here to crew Lisa Smith-Batchen as she takes on her 10th and final Badwater Ultramarathon. For those who don’t know, the Badwater Ultramarathon is a 135 mile race through Death Valley. The temperature can get as high as 130 degrees F but today was a bit cooler with a high of 115.

The terrain, the distance and the heat all combine to make the Badwater Ultramarathon a uniquely and undeniably tough race. This is a grueling course and is widely recognized as being one of the toughest races on the planet so it’s no wonder that it draws the world’s most accomplished endurance runners wanting to try themselves against this treacherous stretch of desert.

In the past day or so that I have been out here I have met so many incredible people. I will write more on that next week after I have had a chance to process my entire Badwater experience, but right now I do want to to tell you briefly about one AMAZING person I have met here–Sister Mary Beth. Sister Mary Beth is a long-time friend of Lisa’s and she is one inspiring lady. I will write more next week, but till then, please take a moment and read this article about the wonderful cause that fuels Lisa and Sister Mary Beth’s amazing feats of ultrarunning.

Just to give a quick update, I have been training for my 306 mile Death Valley run in LA for the past couple weeks and it has been very hot, but I am adjusting and I have experienced a real shift in how I view the heat–I am thankful for it more than ever because I know that the more I train in the heat the better prepared I am for those 306 miles in Death Valley. By the way, the Badwater course that I will be traversing on Monday and Tuesday as a part of Lisa’s crew is part of the course I will run for the H2OPE event so this is going to be great training for me–I will get to see a portion of the course I’ll be running, but I will also get to see what it is like to crew for someone running in the conditions here in Death Valley. I am really looking forward to gaining that perspective. Lots more to write on that, though I don’t think my thoughts on this are fully formed yet, but I’ll be writing about that next week for sure.

One last thing I want to mention: I am very blessed and thankful to be partnering up with Nike as they develop their first ever shoe designed specifically for running in this kind of heat. They have provided me with a prototype pair of shoes, the soles of which are made of a special type of rubber so that they don’t melt out on Badwater Road.

That’s about it for now…I have an early morning and a long two days ahead of me. Prayers and blessings for all of the Badwater athletes and crews would be very much appreciated!

–Jason

This week I have been reminded how blessed I am to do what I do.

In the middle of a busy week of catching planes and getting to meetings, I was inspired and encouraged by something amazing–a group of Native American kids from reservations all around the country coming to together to connect, learn, grow and develop the skills needed to be leaders in their communities. 

On Wednesday I was honored and blessed to have the opportunity to spend time with the N7 group at the Nike campus.  N7 is Nike’s outreach program to empower, inspire and equip Native American and Aboriginal populations in North America.  While visiting the Nike campus the kids got to attend workshops on health and wellness, design their own t-shirts and a shoe, and engage in some great team building by playing a lot of basketball.

Wednesday morning I went to go hang out with the kids while they were designing their t-shirts and a custom shoe.  It was great to see the enthusiasm and creativity with which they diligently pursued their design projects.  As their scheduled speaker later that afternoon, I was standing before those same kids, talking to them about making positive choices and overcoming obstacles.  While I was up there–looking out over that crowd of bright-eyed young people who seemed to me to be staring the future in the face, unflinching, undaunted and unafraid–I was overcome by the relentless impression that this was an extraordinary event.  I couldn’t shake the surreal feeling that my mind had gone back in time and I was in shock to see myself as a grown-up….it was as if the 12 year old kid in me looked around and said “How did I get here? How is this possible?  I’m just a kid from a messed up home, struggling through life using sports to fit in, be a part of something, and help me survive the pain of abandonment and fatherlessness.  How did I end up here–talking to kids about how they can make smart choices and use challenges to make them stronger?  HOW did this happen?“

And it wasn’t just a fleeting moment, the whole evening went on like that.  One experience in particular further added to the mental time warp I was caught up in that evening.  I was talking to one of the chaperons and we got on to the topic of Arizona State Football and he told me that he played for them and I said “Yeah!  I remember!  You played with Nathan LaDuke–he was my idol! My dad and I saw all of your home games.”  When it hit me that I was standing there talking to Jim Warne, who had played on my favorite team when I was a child,  the-12 year-old-kid in me was completely tripped out.

Taking another look around the room at the kids and their dedicated chaperons and one of my childhood sport heroes, it hit me–I’m still that kid.

Every student there at N7 had challenges, some of them huge challenges, that they will have to overcome.  When I was their age I had already been abandoned by my mother, my father had died and I was permanently paralyzed.  That is a lot for a kid to face.

But here’s the thing, please don’t miss this, are you paying attention? 

Even though I had the cards stacked against me in a big way—I WAS NOT ALONE.  Never was I alone.  It sure felt like I was very alone a lot of times.  But when I look back I can see that there were a lot of people who cared about me, watched after me, encouraged me, took care of me and loved me.  That made all the difference.

The experience I have just described was a real shift in PERSPECTIVE for me.  Ever since becoming a full-time athlete I have always been passionate about doing all that I can to encourage, inspire and, well…just, in general, help kids who face great adversity.  I had always thought that my drive to do this was because I knew what it was like to be a kid and have a lot of things in life working against you.  And that certainly is a part of it–I do believe that having gone through all that I have has given me a great deal of understanding for kids in tough circumstances– but I don’t think that my passionate drive to help challenged youth came from my having been one–I think it came from the thankfulness I feel that when I was that kid, there were a lot of people who looked after me, encouraged me, believed in me, pushed me, refused to give up on me and just plain loved me.

And now I’m on the other side of that; now it’s my turn to do all that I can to encourage, inspire, motivate, support and help kids who are facing serious issues and obstacles in life. 

The 306 mile run through Death Valley that I am doing to raise funds for Operation Blessing’s Clean Water Projects is directly related to this.  306 miles is going to be tough, very tough–it will no doubt be the hardest thing I have ever done.  But raising awareness about the clean water crisis and raising funds to dig wells—all of it to help kids facing the worst of circumstances is so great a concern to me that it will keep me going .  No matter how tired, hot, dehydrated, sleep deprived, frustrated, torn-up or exhausted I get out there I will not stop…thinking of those kids who have to try to live without a local source of clean, safe water will keep me going.  My passion to help kids in need and my thankfulness for all those who helped me when I was a kid fuel my determination.

In my book I talk about this concept, which I call “Getting Beyond Yourself “:

Where does the time go? This past week has been a busy one. I bet most of us could say the same, right?

In some ways I feel like I am still recovering from the grueling but exhilarating experience of Epic5. But that was 6 weeks ago and I keep saying to myself

“Come on! Get it together! ”

I am sure most people have experienced those times in life when it feels like you are just barely keeping your head above water. There is just so much to balance: training, working on fund raising, coordinating with my crew, endless emails and phone calls.

I am so used to my routine of wake up, get training session #1 done, eat, take care of some emails and phone calls, go train some more, eat, crash out for the night, wake up and start it all over again. This week has been more like: wake up to 10 emails in need of urgent response, phone calls, email, eat, head out the door for training session # 1 but before the door even closes behind me my phone is ringing–more fires to put out.

And then I remember “Ah, yes. This is one of those crazy, busy seasons in life and I have got to take some time, regroup and STRATEGIZE. If I don’t I will always be running behind and sooner or later I will fall behind.”

So that’s what I have done today.

Slow Down, Breathe, Refocus, Plan, Restructure. Strategize.

With so many irons in the fire, I gotta keep them in order.

My main focus right now is the H2OPE run for Operation Blessing that is coming up in less than 2 months. There is a lot to do there–working with the sponsors, arranging logistics, and training. The training–now that is turning out to be all the challenge I knew it would be and then some. Power walking on the treadmill at full incline for an hour and a half sounds a lot easier than running for 3 hours, right? Wrong. My body is so conditioned for the rigors of endurance running that walking up and up and up and up is ridiculously new and unbelievably taxing.

And then there’s the heat aspect. A lot of people who have never visited do not realize how hot it can get here in Hawaii. Brutally hot. And humid. In the past I have always regarded this as something of a nuisance and a lot of times I would run at night to avoid the heat. Well, knowing the inferno that awaits me in Death Valley I find myself saying to the stifling heat of the day “Bring it on. You think you can take me down? You’re just going to make me stronger.” This bravado, however, does not diminish the wrath that the intense heat and humidity wield over my strength.

The training is delightfully demanding and I am always wanting more of it–it is new and challenging and I thrive on that. In the past I’ve always been able to train as long as I wanted and I would be utterly exhausted at the end of the day. So much has changed. Life has gotten fuller, busier. So much to balance, so much to keep track of, so much that matters–that I cannot get behind on.

This is when I know it is time for me to GET IN THE LAB.

In my book I talk about my habit and discipline of “getting into the Lab” when I am in need of intense focus in order to prepare for what’s in front of me.

“The Laboratory is my custom-created training environment–a lifestyle, really. To do what I do, I have to be single-minded, putting my complete focus, twenty-four hours a day, on the things that get me ready mentally and physically for a punishing race. The Laboratory is everything around me–my living space, the town I live in, my training regimen, my diet, my coaching, my friends, my time with God–all calibrated to achieve the goal of getting me successfully to the finish line of an Ironman, Ultraman, or other extreme race.”

I need to get into the Lab. Oh, wait. I am in the Lab. Hmmmmm…well, then, I think I need to redesign my Lab, to rethink what it looks like to be in the Lab.

I remember reading a quote by Brian G. Dyson where he talked about life being like a juggling act–we are all juggling so many things: work, family, friends, health…some of these are rubber balls and if we drop them for a while it’s okay–they will bounce back up and we can catch them later. But some of these are glass balls and if we drop them they are likely to get scuffed, damaged or even shatter.

So my day of stepping back, regrouping, redesigning my strategy starts with this: What in my life is a rubber ball and what is fragile as glass?
I have to face it–some things are going to have to be put on hold for the next 10 weeks.

–Okay, so obviously I can’t drop training for the 306 H2OPE run. That is a glass ball for sure.

–What about all of the logistical arrangements for the run and working with sponsors? Can’t drop that. There’s another glass ball.
But I am blessed to have people in my life, on my team, that I can toss some of these glass balls to and I know that they won’t let them drop.

–Hanging out with friends? My totally amazing friends here in Kona who have become like family to me? I am very blessed in my friends and they understand when I need to be “in the Lab”. That’s a rubber ball I look forward to catching later.

So that leaves me with training and coordinating details for the 306. Can’t drop either. Raising funds for Operation Blessing so that they can save lives is the big picture here and I won’t let anything get in the way of that.

This is where the new strategy comes in. I am going to have to start planning my days around my changed circumstances and the fact that I can’t go into hermit mode and just train. Alright, no worries. This is doable. With a few tweaks to my schedule, remembering that I am a few time zones behind most of the people I am working with, I create a new schedule–and voila, my “Lab” is redesigned. I’m still “in the Lab”, I just changed it around a bit.

Already I feel I can breathe a little easier. The quiet and still of calmness returns in my spirit and my mind is a lot less cluttered.

Tomorrow is a new day and a new chance.

An new chance to finish my to-do list. A new day to train my body for the 306 miles of desert waiting to test my mettle. A new day to make the most of all that I have been given.

Well, thanks for letting me think out loud…or think via typing, which I guess is one function of a blog.

So, what’s cluttering up your Lab? What is your big, huge, awesome, extreme–in a word, epic –goal? What are the rubber balls and what are the glass balls in your life? (Hint: Family is always a glass ball. Things like TV and Facebook are always rubber balls.)

Something to Think About
Till next week,

–Jason

This is a tough post to write.  I don’t really know where to start.  How does one stare into a coming trial, one that will test everything that they are and put that fear, trepidation, thrill, excitement, dread, anticipation, anxiety, nervousness, elation into words?

I am about to embark on the greatest challenge of my life.  I have never faced anything as difficult as what lies in front of me now.  All my life has led me to right here, right now.

Let me try to cast my vision.

I feel as if I am on the edge of a precipice.  As I gaze down, I see before me a very long stretch of merciless desert just waiting to destroy me.  That desert seems to sneer, to mock me and dare me to just try it. That desert, in spite of its savage beauty, is just waiting to tear me apart.

It is going to hurt, probably worse than I have ever hurt before.  I will summit a new level of pain.  It is going to be hellishly hot and I will struggle with a thirst that goes on for days.  And that is exactly why I am doing what I am.  You see, in the past year a series of events have brought the clean water crisis to my attention.  I always knew, in a very abstract way, that there were a lot of people that did not have access to clean water but I had never really thought that out–thought about what it must be like to not have clean, safe water.

Honestly, I’m not sure any of us living in developed countries can really imagine what that would be like.

But try. Imagine holding your child in your arms as they die a terrible, horrendous death.  Writhing from the grip of intense pain as their life is taken by a water-borne disease…and all the while they are parched and begging for a bit more of the very water that is killing them.

This is the way that thousands of people die everyday.

Every one of those lives is unique. Precious.  This is a tragic loss that no words can fully convey.  And I refuse to do nothing.  This situation has broken my heart in such a profound way.  I cannot, knowing what I know now, do nothing.

I can guess what you are thinking now.  “What can you do, Jason?  You’re a triathlete.  You run, bike, swim.  That is what you do.”  I was thinking the same thing….and then it occurred for me:

If all I do is run, bike, swim, and talk about my sport…what good am I?

What Good am I?

If being an athlete is just for me, it is meaningless.  I mean meaningless in the lament-drenched way that Solomon meant it.  There is no way that that is what God has planned for me.  I have long believed that I am blessed in order that I may be a blessing to others.

So here it is:  This summer I will be running from Las Vegas, through Death Valley all the way to Mount Whitney–306 miles all to raise funds for the world’s best water charity, Operation Blessing.  Operation Blessing has built more than 10,000 wells, saving the lives of more than 4 million people all over the world.

So, running 306 miles through Death Valley sounds insane, right?

No, what’s insane is not doing anything and everything that I can to bring relief to the millions of precious children, moms, dads…families that are suffering and dying.

Why 306 miles through Death Valley?  Call it an act of solidarity or what you will.  I want to feel the grip of pain, the unquenchable thirst that so many suffer everyday.  Why run–and why run so long?  It’s what I do.  We all have God-given gifts and it is our responsibility to honor God by using our gifts to help others.  My plan is to use the craziness of this epic run to call attention to the tragic loss of life caused by a lack of access to clean water—and at the same time get the word out that by partnering with Operation Blessing we can change this.  We can save lives.

Though I will be running every step of the 306 miles, this is far from a solo effort.

Lisa Smith-Batchen is the only other person who has ever successfully completed the trek from Las Vegas to Mt. Whitney.  And that amazing, wonderful, awe-inspiring lady has graciously agreed to be my crew chief for this run.  And she’s not just my crew chief; she’s also coaching me as I train for this daunting endeavor.

The training for a 300 mile run through the desert is very different from the kind of training I am used to.  As many of you know, last month I hosted and competed in EPIC5 Challenge which is an ultra endurance event consisting of 5 Iron-distance triathlons in 5 consecutivedays on 5 different Hawaiian islands.  The training for an event like that is basically just a whole lot of swimming, running and cycling.

The training schedule and regimen Lisa has me on is very different.  Though I will be building on the fitness level I had already attained prior to EPIC5, my current training will push, stretch and demand more of me than anything I’ve ever done before.  The biggest part of the training is mental.

So much of the training will be focused on developing and strengthening the core attributes of an ultra-athlete.  This desert run will require determination, strategy, flexibility, mental fortitude, stamina, endurance, perspective, courage and teamwork.

Teamwork.  Now that brings me to my next point.  As I stated above, this is far from a solo effort.  In order to really make a difference here I need your help.

I need a team of people behind me–people who understand what I am doing and why I am doing it.  People who care enough to get involved and help out in any way they can. I need your words of encouragement.  I need your enthusiasm and willingness to tell others about what we are doing. I need your prayers.  I need your financial backing, donations to Operation Blessing–because that is what this is all about, that is how lives will be saved.

Can you see it?  Did I succeed in casting the vision for you–the vision I have for this project to do a great and wonderful Good?  If so, I encourage you to leave a comment below or make a donation here to help support the cost of our project. Each donor will be recognized on our H2OPE website (unless specified to be kept anonymous).

Every Friday, from now till I leave for Death Valley to take on this massive challenge, I will be posting a blog entry about my training–all that I am going through as I prepare for this mad, wonderful journey.  It will be raw and unpolished.  I can’t promise anything other than honest soul-baring of all that I am going through, good and bad.  Just thinking about the coming weeks of training and all that lies ahead seems to weary me.

But as I stated in the introduction of my book.”  Running on Faith: The Principles, Passion, and Pursuit of a Winning Life “If you don’t stop, you can’t be stopped

Signed copy of Jason Lester’s book Running on Faith: The Principles, Passion, and Pursuit of a Winning Life $100

H2OPE official poster signed by Jason Lester $50

To make a donation by mail:

The NEVER STOP Foundation

74-5576 Pawai Place Ste. J #567

Kailua Kona, Hawaii 96740

Jason Lester, 37, Nike Endurance Athlete and ESPY Winner. Lester, a firm believer in using his athletic abilities to raise money for worthy causes. His book, “Running on Faith: The Principles, Passion, and Pursuit of a Winning Life,” has been hailed by critics as “truly remarkable proof of what dedication, heart, and a never-say-quit attitude can create.” I had the opportunity to interview Jason about his upcoming charity run in August, entitled H2OPE 2011: Badwater for Clean Water. The 306 mile course will start in Las Vegas, make its way to Badwater in Death Valley, and then wind up to the top of Mount Whitney. Jason will be the second person to ever run the course. Lisa Smith-Batchen made the grueling journey in 2008. All donations Jason receives will go towards building clean water wells and cisterns in rural areas and villages in the Philippines, China, Africa, and India. Jason lives and trains in Hawaii. http://lisasmithbatchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/breaking-ground-interview-with.html