Isaac Yun Raises More than $11,000 to Help End the World’s Water Crisis

Earlier this month, Ozinga Director of Project Development Isaac Yun ran in the Chicago Marathon. While he’s done 5Ks before, this was his first stab at a marathon of this scale, and finished with a time of 4:49. But Isaac didn’t run for bragging rights—he felt compelled to participate in the marathon to raise funds for World Vision, a not-for-profit committed to providing clean water to the millions across the world without it.

There are approximately 800 million people without access to clean water across the globe, and for only $50, a child can have clean water for life. Isaac’s original goal was to raise $3,000, but as more and more donations poured in, he increased it to $10,000 and was able to surpass his goal thanks to generous coworkers, family members and friends. The funds Isaac raised will provide clean water for 220 kids.

Isaac’s commitment to running in the Chicago Marathon had some personal benefits too. Just last year, he was in the worst shape of his life. Motivated to get in better shape and thanks to a strict keto diet, he dropped 50 pounds in five months. After hearing about World Vision’s mission to end the world’s water crisis in our lifetime, he decided to start training for the Chicago Marathon. Since March of this year, he’s run over 500 miles in preparation for the 26.2-mile course.

“My wife and I joked that it was probably the closest thing to being in labor,” Isaac said. “The furthest I ran before this was a 5K—my wife thought I was insane. But I told her I felt like I was supposed to do this.”

Even with his first marathon under his belt, he’s far from done. He has plans to run another marathon next year and will continue training during the off season, after taking a couple weeks off to recover. Personally, he wants to beat his current PR and provide clean water for even more kids next year.

“It was the most amazingly painful experience of my life,” Isaac said. “I can’t wait to do it again.”