Blog: Reza Baluchi to Attempt Run to Catalina Island

You don’t see this every day.

Reza Baluchi will attempt to be the first person to run from the mainland to Catalina Island and back.

He will climb into his man-made plastic bubble and begin his run to the island on Friday at 6 a.m. Reza will depart from Moonstone Park at 280 Marina Way in Redondo Beach. City 2 Sea will provide the support boat for this historical journey.

He hopes to run the first leg of 27 miles to Catalina in 12 hours, allowing extra time for currents, and then run the second leg back on Saturday in a quick 10 hours.

Reza Baluchi's entire life has been filled with one great adventure after another.

He left Iran in 1996 after having been imprisoned for 18 months for "associating with counter-revolutionaries" and he'd been publicly flogged for eating in the daytime during Ramadan.

Reza spent seven years biking across 55 countries on six continents and covered over 49,700 miles.

The U.S. granted him political asylum in February, 2003 after being detained in an immigration center in Arizona for 4 months. 

In 2003, he ran 3,000 miles from Santa Monica to Ground Zero in New York City in 81 consecutive days and donated the bicycle he rode on six continents to the firefighters of NYC in a gesture of world peace.

In 2007, Reza ran the perimeter of the United States covering 11,720 miles in 202 consecutive days.

In 2009, he ran 3,300 miles from Santa Monica to New York City in 43 days.

Wow.

Head to Moonstone Park at 6 a.m. this Friday to see Reza off on his latest journey!

For more information on Reza and his achievements, visit the website at runwithreza.org.