DETROIT – A Detroit teacher is setting out on a journey to become the first woman ever to run across the state of Michigan and she’s hoping to raise some money for some great causes along the way.
Sarah Porter is a teacher and cross country coach at Detroit Cristo Rey High School in Southwest Detroit. She’s starting that journey Tuesday on the west side of the state, in South Haven, planning to make the trek back to the east side in just 7 days. She plans to run 30 miles a day.
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“At the end of the day, It gives me a space to just clear my head,” Porter Said. “Think about you know, everything that’s going on in my life. But it’s also a place where I can challenge myself.”
And for months now she’s been training for a challenge no woman has ever done before.
“You know, and I had been following, you know, ultra runners and people who do these kinds of distances, and I stumbled upon another person’s story who ran across the state and it was a man, and he set a record for it and there’s no woman’s record. So I thought, why not go for it.”
That ‘Go 4 It’ attitude is what drew us to Sarah. She wants to raise money through this challenge for two organizations.
First is Girls on the Run.
“I’ve been teaching and coaching for about 14 years. And in those experiences, I’ve just seen that girls don’t always get the same support in sports that boys do.”
The other is the Teacher Salary Project.
“They’re raising awareness for like the national need to pay teachers more to offer support and a lot of other ways with funding.”
Sarah will finish her run at Lake St. Clair on July 29th at Blossom Heath Park where her friends and family will greet her for a celebration ... but that celebration is more than 200 miles away.
“You just take it one step at a time.”
Her family will also be doing the 217 mile trek - by van - giving her a place to eat and sleep/
“My family is going to support me by driving the van and helping me out with food and we’re gonna spend the night in the van. So it’s going to be a bonding experience as well.”
To support Sarah, click here.