OCEAN 2 OCEAN
OUR CO-FOUNDER SAM BENCHEGHIB RECENTLY FINISHED RUNING 3,055 MILES ACROSS AMERICA.
SAM RAN 23 MILES A DAY FROM N.Y.C. TO L.A. ON A MISSION TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THE GROWING PROBLEM OF PLASTIC POLLUTION IN OUR OCEANS.
SAM’S RUNNING BLOG
THE VIDEO SERIES
Episode 1 - The First Step
Episode 3 - The Ban Against the Ban on Plastic
Episode 2 - 100 Miles 🏃♂️
Episode 4 - The Real “R”
Episode 5 - Our Future: Kids
Episode 7 - The Mental Hurdles
Episode 6 - A Day In The Life
Post-run debrief and Q&A with Sam
SAM’S LIVE RUN
THE CAUSE
Our oceans are drowning in Plastic
Every second breath comes from the ocean. It is the lifeblood of our planet and we can no longer stand by and watch as we are destroying our most precious resource.
Plastic has become one of the most produced man-made materials and it is everywhere. Plastic waste is quickly accumulating around the globe in cities, in landfills, on some of our most pristine shorelines, in the open sea and even in the deep sea. If we don’t stop our consumption habits, by the year 2048, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. And as of today there are already more micro plastics in our ocean than stars in our galaxy. It’s affecting our water, our corals and our marine life. Studies have found that close to 95% of seabirds are ingesting this ocean plastic and researchers have found plastic in rain samples and in the air that we breathe around the world.
The Journey
If we want to see big change, we need to take on big challenges.
On July 26th 2019, Sam began a long and arduous journey to run from New York City to Los Angeles, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Sam’s journey lasted 191 days, as he covered a distance of 3,055 total miles (4917km), the equivalence of 117 marathons back-to-back. He crossed 13 U.S. states and ran through extreme weather conditions, from scorching desert heat to knee-deep snow blizzards. Sam ran an average of 23 miles a day for 145 days. During the 46 days when Sam wasn’t running, he was engaging with local communities along his route to discuss the impacts of plastic pollution. He met with 10,000 people face-to-face.
Sam was the first person to ever complete this challenge using up-cyclced shoes. He was wearing the Adidas x Parley UltraBoosts, made with Ocean Plastic®, a material made from up-cycled plastic waste collected from remote beaches and coastal communities.
The Goal
Bringing the Ocean to middle America.
The goal with this expedition was to bring the plastic pollution conversation to middle America. We wanted to bring the message from the Atlantic to the Pacific and encourage and inspire people to live more sustainably by generating less waste.
Along this journey, Sam hosted educational presentations at schools and universities, met with politicians ranging from small-town mayors to state governors, organized events such as zero-waste workshops, documentary screenings, street and city cleanups and run-alongs (plogging) with running clubs and athlete organizations.
We also produced an 8-piece video series that included updates on Sam’ running adventure and his findings as he ran across the United States.
RUNNING 3,055 MILES ACROSS AMERICA FOR THE OCEANS
PRESS
Here are a few press accolades that have covered Sam’s Ocean2Ocean run:
OCEAN2OCEAN
A PROJECT BY MAKE A CHANGE IN COLLABORATION WITH
WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF
ADIDAS RUNNING
STEPCHAIN
OLIVIER DASSAULT
AND WAS MADE ZERO-WASTE WITH THE HELP OF
PACKAGE FREE SHOP