Rebecca Byerly |
Rebecca Byerly, began running
ultra-marathons, while studying abroad in Cairo, Egypt in 2005.
Since that time she has run marathons or ultra-marathons in
Egypt, South Africa, Jordan, Australia, Lebanon, India, China,
and Mongolia. Always seeking the next athletic and cultural
adventure she spent last winter snowboarding in Gulmarg, Kashmir
and running at 14,000 feet through the Himalayas. Rebecca, uses
running and writing as a medium to share the remarkable accounts
of people in far-flung regions of the world, whose stories would
otherwise go untold.
This summer Rebecca worked for CNN.com covering off the
beaten path pre-Olympic feature stories in China, Mongolia, and
Cambodia. Before working with CNN she worked in New Delhi, India
on a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. While in India, she built
partnerships between slum schools in New Delhi and private
schools. Working directly with rag pickers or climate change
refugees in some of Delhi’s poorest slums, she saw the need to
increase environmental awareness globally. A graduate of Peace
and Conflict Resolution at American University in Washington
D.C., Rebecca worked in Kabul, Afghanistan as a consultant, for
Reza Deghati, the founder of Aina a media development
organization that empowers Afghans by teaching them media
skills. She has also worked in educational development and
conducted research in Sudan, Palestine, and Turkey.
A North Carolina native, Rebecca is recruiting the first
group of Americans to compete in the Libyan Challenge in
February 2009. She believes the race will not only be an
exceptional athletic adventure that will undoubtedly push each
runner to their limits but is also an opportunity to learn more
about Libya. Rebecca plans to cover the race for various media
organizations and will capture the story through a high
definition camera, photography, and print journalism. "This race
is not only an opportunity to share Libya with Americans but for
us to be American Ambassadors to Libya." |
