A teacher from Detroit will be starting a run across the state of Michigan this Tuesday, July 23 in South Haven.
A teacher from Detroit will be starting a run across the state of Michigan this Tuesday, July 23 in South Haven.
Sarah Porter starts her journey along Lake Michigan, running 217 miles over the next six days. She plans to arrive in St. Clair Shores next Monday.
Porter is running to raise money for Girls on the Run and the Teacher Salary Project. She tells us she’s starting in South Haven because there was already an identified route across the state that starts there.
“There was no women’s record for the run, so they basically just keep track of who ran the route the fastest, and no woman has ever tried it before,” Porter said. “So being a Michigander, I was like that would be a cool route to try. No woman has done it before, so really all I have to do is complete the route.”
Girls on the Run is a health and self esteem program that involves thousands of girls taking part in a run each year. The Teacher Salary Project seeks to raise awareness about the working conditions faced by teachers. Porter says after a rough year in the classroom, she decided to do this run to combine her love of running with a desire to make a difference. It’s not going to be easy.
“I expect there to be days where I’m questioning my life choice, but I’m expecting it to be something fun, a way for me to see a lot of parts of Michigan that I’ve never seen before, like the places in between South Haven and Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Albion. I’ll be running through all of these cities that I don’t often take the time to stop and enjoy.”
Porter is being followed by family and supporters in a tour van. She has set up a fundraising page and is encouraging others to join her in her mission to make a difference.
Porter is the first woman on record to run all the way across Michigan to raise money for charity.
