It’s Thursday May 1, 2025, my 27th birthday, and I am on a plane to India. What lies ahead is a three week ski expedition with Jess Shade and Garen Riedel followed by my attempt to run 1000 miles through Asia as part of my personal project to run 1000 miles on every continent.
In the ski expedition, we will explore the Lahaul Valley of Himchal Pradesh, an area renowned for trekking and lesser known for skiing.
In the run, I will set off without a specific destination, only with the desire to explore Forrest Gump style. My hope is to stay in the Himalayas monsoon-permitting.
FAQs
How can I support you?
The best way you can support me is by donating to my fundraiser for Rise Against Hunger (RAH). RAH has branches in India, Africa, and the USA. In India, Rise Against Hunger has provided over 3.5 million meals to 200+ rural communities.
Your donation goes directly to Rise Against Hunger. Your donation also helps show my sponsors (currently Norda and Black Diamond) that I am making an impact on people, which in turn sustains my adventures. My last big run raised over $15K for Shoe 4 Africa.
Why did you select Rise Against Hunger?
Rise Against Hunger does the type of work that I came to feel most passionate about during my 1000 mile run in Africa, and it receives excellent ratings by third-party charity evaluators.
In Africa, I visited schools where 50% of the student body was malnourished. Teachers told us that hunger was the biggest impediment to student learning. Kids lacked the ability to focus in class and complained about the pain caused by empty stomachs.
For this reason, I believe that feeding kids in developing countries is an effective way to invest in their physical development and education. Compounding that, feeding kids is relatively cheap. $10 was enough to feed a family happily for a week in Tanzania and Kenya.
I was surprised to learn that hunger is every bit as prevalent in India as East Africa. 34.7% of Indian children under five are stunted from malnutrition compared to 26.% in Kenya and 31.8% in Tanzania.
Rise Against Hunger receives a 4-star rating with a score of 90% on Charity Navigator and a Platinum rating on Guide Star . In Charity Navivator’s Accountability and Finance assessment, RAH receives a score of 88 out of 100, losing points for poor liabilities-to-assets and working capital ratios. This means that RAH has relatively low assets compared to the size of their operation. The past three years expenses have tracked closely with revenue. To me, this indicates that RAH converts donations directly to meals instead of setting aside some money to save. While I do have some concerns about RAH's ability to sustain all their programs in a bad fundraising year, I do really like the fact that your donation will likely go straight into meals for vulnerable people. Please email me at olly.k.cohen@gmail.com if you have additional insights on these metrics.
Is there any other way I can possibly support you besides the fundraiser?
Yes you can get a specially-made I Run Earth active wear tee shirt produced in-house. You can also become a paid subscriber to this blog. Disclaimer on Paid Subscription: I don’t write extra paid content; please only purchase a subscription if you feel so passionate about supporting these adventures that you want to help pay for them.
How can I follow you?
I will post updates here on my blog as well as videos on Instagram when I can. I do not expect to have access to internet for at least the next three weeks while we are skiing.
What is your level of concern about the political situation in India?
My friends in India have assured me that the country is safe outside of Kashmir.
What is your level of concern about re-entering the U.S.?
I am not concerned personally, though I have heard reports of US citizens facing difficulty re-entering.
How do you feel?
Well, errr, good I guess. I’m going into this adventure stronger than the last two I think. I’m looking forward to the exploratory component of our ski expedition. It will involve some new things for me: camping and skiing at high altitude. I’m challenging myself to stay present and think clearly under stress. The run feels a little more ambiguous now but I’m hopeful things will come together on-the-ground.
Can you write a poem?
Sat under the lilac tree
after a wild goose chase
before my
morning evening flight
I whoops
misread the ticket
or forgot
I stopped by the Francis house
Got a hug from Tal and Kayla
“Remember this is what you have to come home to.”
I went to Glen’s house for Blake’s poetry book:
“Even the trees remember”
taking Dad skiing at the crack of dawn
He wanted to go to a diner
It didn’t open til 8
“What good’s a diner that doesn’t open early”
I said like a trucker.
“You can sleep in after great sex and savor it with butter and bacon,”
Dad explained.
I hadn’t thought of that
“Maybe one day.”
I threw a party on the boat
Didn’t mention my birthday
27 feels stale
Do the trees remember why
some hotshot
sent me to the gates of hell
in Himchal Pradesh
instead of portage cafe
with a pretty lady
I remembered under the lilacs
Homemade flatbread and
dropped you off
Blasted coldplay on the way home
“Time is on your side“
God speed! Keep those poems coming. Happy birthday month!
Bon voyage! Great poem.