This is just amazing!!!! Frankly, we are speechless. While we waited in the halls of Congress for a Senate hearing to begin, our friend Will Harlan ran 72 miles along the TN-NC border to raise awareness! Thanks so much for your support, Will!

On June 25th, I completed a 72-mile, end-to-end run across Great Smoky Mountains National Park in just under 17 hours, a speed record. However, the real goal was to help bring an end to the devastating and deadly effects of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia and to promote iLoveMountains.org. My crew distributed information about ilovemountains.org at popular trailheads during the run, and we wore iLoveMountains.org t-shirts for the entire run.

I have launched Miles for Mountains as a way to get hikers, runners, walkers, and other outdoor enthusiasts actively involved in ending mountaintop removal. The basic concept is for people to dedicate their mileage–whether it’s on a treadmill or on the trail–toward a collective goal of one million miles to end mountnaintop removal–a virtual million-mile march.

So to all you runners out there, you heard the man…. lace up and start telling the world about mountaintop removal coal mining.

PS. Will also happens to be the Editor of Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, the definitive guide to outdoor sports, health, and adventure travel in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.