Here in the Florida Keys, there are many badasses, and we’ve had the privilege at Keys Weekly to write about many of them. But ultra endurance athlete Katie Spotz — who may actually be Rollerblading by your neighborhood as you read this — takes badassery to the next level.
This week, with friend Hannah Sleight, 34-year-old Spotz is in-line skating the entire Florida Keys, roughly 31 miles a day (the length of an ultra marathon), to bring awareness to H2O for Life. She started on Monday, Feb. 14, in Key Largo’s Ocean Reef, and she plans on rolling into Key West on Thursday, Feb. 17.
And we’ll be sitting here eating Valentine’s Day chocolate while watching her livestreams on her Facebook page, @hellokatiespotz.
We checked her progress via text on Feb 15: “We are almost at Marathon!” she texted us. “It’s been quite the adventure but we are finding our groove and feeling strong. Plus we have some very nice tailwind at the moment!”
And you can add “texting while Rollerblading” to her long list of accomplishments, which also include: completing five ironman triathlons; cycling across America; while rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean, she set a world record for the youngest-ever solo ocean rower and first American to row from Africa to South America; and, in June 2021, winning a Guinness World Record — “Most consecutive days to run an ultra marathon distance (female)” — by running an ultra marathon for 11 consecutive days in June 2021, from Cleveland to Cincinnati.
But Spotz isn’t doing all this for the glory.
Katie Spotz uses her ultra marathon adventures to raise awareness for charity H2O for Life. Here, she is sitting on a jerry can, typically used to transport water. She posted this photo on Facebook, where she wrote, “Millions of people around the world spend hours each day with one strapped securely on their backs, held tightly to their hips or balanced on top of their heads. The jerry can is a part of their everyday lives.” HEATHER NYQUIST PHOTOGRAPHY/Contributed 
Ultra marathoner Katie Spotz won a Guinness World Record — “Most consecutive days to run an ultra marathon distance (female)” — by running an ultra marathon for 11 consecutive days in June 2021, from Cleveland to Cincinnati. Here she is during the Ohio run. CONTRIBUTED
“I’m most passionate about the work that H2O for Life is doing,” she said. “It’s a nonprofit that helps inspire action to fight the global water crisis.”
As an ambassador for H2O for Life, she is using her athletic adventures to raise awareness about the global water crisis while providing funds for water, sanitation and hygiene education for a partner school in a developing country. Spotz hopes that through the Skate4Water project in the Keys, she will inspire action to support a school community in Haiti.
For example, her 11-day ultra marathon adventure in June was also to bring H2O for Life to the public eye and to fund 11 water projects in Uganda. The project was called Run4Water. She has another Run4Water project planned for later in the year: running across an entire country in South America with the goal of funding one clean water project.
Spotz’s goal is to raise $1 million for water projects — giving kids a chance to stay in school and get an education instead of fetching water all day.
Ultra marathoner Katie Spotz, right, is taking friend Hannah Sleight on her latest adventure, which is to skate roughly 31 miles a day — the length of an ultra marathon — to travel 119 miles through the entire Keys over four days. CHARLOTTE TWINE/Keys Weekly 
During their 119-mile skating trip through the Keys, friends Katie Spotz, left, and Hannah Sleight are sure to see lots of water — and mangroves. CHARLOTTE TWINE/Keys Weekly
Her awareness about the global water crisis was raised when she was attending college in Australia. The country was in the middle of a 10-year drought. A professor in one of her classes said, “The wars of the future will be fought over water.”
Spotz never forgot what he said.
“The more I found out, the more I was shocked — there are a billion people without clean water. And there are solutions. I think everyone can agree it’s a basic human right,” she said.
She chose her project Skate4Water to be in the Florida Keys for a simple reason that inspires many to visit: “It’s nice to be somewhere warm,” she said. She also enjoys the symbolism of skating next to water.
“And it’s flat,” she said, with a laugh.
To make a donation to her campaign, go to Skate4Water.com. To learn more about Katie Spotz, go to katiespotz.com or @hellokatiespotz on Facebook.
