On December 13 I'm going to run the White Rock Marathon in Dallas, TX.

That's 26.2 miles of sweating, pushing, giving everything I've got.

Sounds rough, right? Well imagine doing all of that without clean water.

Every week, millions of women and their children walk more than 14 miles just to get water for their families. Most of this water is contaminated, but it's the only water they have. They take the chance of catching diseases like bilharzia and schistosomiasis (parasites) - with every sip. There's nothing they can do to change it.

So, what can I do?

My mission is to raise $5,000 for water. I want every step to matter. I'm asking for pledges per foot, per mile or flat out donations to help achieve my goal.

Because of charity: water's unique model, 100% of all donations go directly to water projects, and each donation is "proved" when projects are complete. I aim to raise $5000 in the next three months. This will be enough to fund a water project in a village that is in desperate need of water.

I hope you'll join me in helping them now.

You can follow my training by visiting my Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/blakeruns4water