John Trull used to run marathons for one reason.

He wanted to have an adventure.

Trull's first marathon was an adventure, for sure. He was 47, and the most he had run before his friends suggested they all run a marathon was three miles. A marathon is only 23 miles more than that, but that was OK with Trull. It was an adventure. So he did it, and he liked it so much, he joined Doug Bell's running group, began running with people who considered it a lifelong passion, and he ran five other marathons among a host of races.

Yet even after the fifth, once Trull knew he could finish, he still loved the adventure of it. He planned vacations around them, wrapping some of the unknown wonders of the world around the 26.2-mile distance with relish. He once ran one in Athens, the site of the original marathon, when legend has it a lone Athenian ran to carry a message of an imminent attack by Persian soldiers and died when he reached the end (he obviously didn't train enough).

Now Trull, 55, of Greeley will run the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 7 with his own message. This time, he's running for a cause, not just an adventure.

Trull will join 500 runners across the country for World Vision with the goal of raising money to bring clean water to African communities.

Trull traveled with World Nation two years ago to Ethiopia and was struck by the fact that many of its residents struggled for up to eight hours a day just to find water, and the water they had to drink was dirty and riddled with disease. Trull made the same trip last year and saw the difference just one water station that produces clean drinking water can make. More than a billion people don't have clean drinking water. It would be nice, he thought, if he could reduce that number just a little.

Trull spent 30 years working for Hensel-Phelps in Greeley as an operations manager and still works for them as an occasional consultant by breaking problems down to the basic level. Dirty water, it seemed to him, was the root of the problems in Africa. A community that needs clean water can't be healthy, so that impairs its residents' ability to learn. That means its economic production won't reach its potential, and so on.

"We take it for granted that we can get a glass of water," he said. "I saw a woman standing in a mud puddle and getting water from that, but then just some miles down, another community had fresh water, and you started to see hope. I'm just amazed at how simple that task is and how vital it is to life."

There are advantages to running for clean water, Trull said.

"People look at me like I'm insane when I tell them I want to run a marathon," he said and laughed. "Now I've got a good reason this time."

The real reason, however, is harder to laugh away, and the need for adventure only touches on it. Running is good for Trull physically, of course, but it may be even more important mentally and spiritually.

"It's quiet time to reflect on things in my life and my walk with the Lord," he said. "I believe God probably put this on my heart during one of those runs that this is something I needed to do. It was a natural thing."

Trull isn't approaching this marathon as the adventure that he has in the past. But this marathon will be like the others.

The journey, more than the destination, sticks with him.

-- Staff writer Dan England covers the outdoors, entertainment and Fort Lupton for the Greeley Tribune. His column runs on Tuesday. If you have an idea for a column, call 392-4418 or write dengland@greeleytribune.com.

To Help:

John Trull is asking for donations to help pay for clean water to African communities as a part of a World Vision project. Go to www.firstgiving.com/johntrull for more information and to donate.