Twin Cities marathoner says he ran with canoe on his back to give voice to the BWCAW

A Minnesota marathon runner took on a 26.2-mile portage to give the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness a voice.

Travis Meier is a portage runner, carrying canoes to raise awareness for Minnesota's public lands.

"Marathon running is already really hard and you add another layer of difficulty to that," said Meier. "The more difficult things you do or the harder things you can make, people go wow, or just like their jaw drop, they pay more attention."

He says that attention is exactly the point, especially as debate continues over mining near the Boundary Waters.

"It hasn't been touched and that's the way it should be," Meier said. "And if we don't protect it, you can't put the genie back in the bottle once all that water is poisoned."

Meier says he is speaking for a wilderness that cannot speak for itself.

"Someone has to speak for the public lands. I would say I'm a Lorax with a lesser stash," he said.

For Meier, the Boundary Waters is worth the pain and worth carrying a canoe through an entire marathon.

"The very first night I went to the Boundary Waters, we were at a campsite and the Northern Lights just came right out," he said. "You can see some of the most amazing things you never thought you could see."

Now, he's taking that message on the road with plans for 52 portage marathons in 52 weeks.

"I would love to run in your race and raise more awareness for our public lands," he said.

Meier says wherever that next race is, he'll have the same mission and the same canoe.