Kat Belendiuk Armed with her headlamp and a sense of adventure ultramarathoner Kat Belendiuk picked her way along miles of awesome singletrack. While not long a runner, she now loved the morning mix of running, hiking and letting her mind run or rest as needed.
Even the set of glowing green eyes didn't freak her out completely, though she stepped wide when passing the mysterious woodland creature. Time on the trail helps Belendiuk find balance during her 80-plus hour workweeks as a Ph.D. candidate in developmental and clinical psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.
With each breath she tasted the remains of last night's storm fine-tuning her senses as she interacted with the world beneath her feet. It was perfect me time, yet the training session would prepare her to serve others combining her passion for running with her experience as an educator.
“i2P's educational programs not only positively impact our Youth Ambassadors, but the tens of thousands of students who have followed us on expeditions.
” -- Ray Zahab, founder and director of impossible2Possible (i2P)
That morning's local hike and its trail full of surprises was one of many training sessions readying her for another long trek in a very different venue -- the Amazon jungle!
Belendiuk and a team of educators, adventurers and four youth ambassadors recently explored 100 diverse miles as part of impossible2Possible's (i2P) latest expedition. i2P uses experience-based learning to educate, inspire and empower youth around the world.
As part of the education team, Belendiuk held lessons about biodiversity, wrote lesson plans for over 100 schools worldwide and recorded videos responding to students' questions.
The group's daily video conferences -- hosted from the jungle -- had nearly 10,000 students participate per session. Watch the youth ambassadors read and respond to questions about coconuts, bug bites and tarantulas in this sample video.
Daily hikes sent Belendiuk scrambling up steep climbs, wading through waist-deep mud and crossing a river. And although it was over 100 degrees during the day with near 100 percent humidity, at night it got cold.
Courtesy of Kat Belendiuk Kat Belendiuk is willing to get uncomfortable in order to survive in extreme locations like Antarctica."One night when we slept on the beach I kept waking up to add layers of clothes only to finally wake up in the morning wearing shorts, pants, wool socks, a T-shirt, a wool pullover, a Gore-Tex shell, a wool hat and wool gloves," says Belendiuk. "If you would have seen me you would have thought I was in Antarctica, not the Amazon!"
She would know, she's explored both locations. In 2009, Belendiuk traveled to King George Island and finished the Antarctica Marathon. Read about that experience, including a penguin encounter.
To survive and thrive on either extreme location she had to make two simple choices, both foundational and doable steps in becoming a runner no matter where you live or run:
• Stop being scared.
• Be willing to get uncomfortable.
Think about it. What could you do, try, discover or achieve just in response to these basic principles?
Whether it means going for a run around the block or somewhere around the world, make a choice to discover the amazing world beneath your feet and go!
