New Hill Challenge IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LULULEMON Brings Heart and Hustle to Run For The Water
This fall, the 19th Annual Run For The Water 5K, 10-Miler, Kids K, introduces a new way to run with joy and purpose: the inaugural Hill Challenge, in partnership with Lululemon. This timed segment along the 10-mile course celebrates strength, joy, and determination—all in support of providing clean water for life to communities in Burundi.
Run For The Water is a signature fundraiser for the nonprofit Gazelle Foundation whose mission it is to bring clean water and hope to Burundi.
Where Grit Meets Impact: The Hill Challenge, In Partnership with Lululemon Explained
The Hill Challenge, in partnership with Lululemon is an 600-meter timed segment embedded in the 10-Mile course. All 10-Miler participants are automatically entered, and the fastest times between the timing mats will determine winners across nine categories:
Overall male, female, nonbinary
Masters (ages 40–59), male, female, nonbinary
Grand Masters (ages 60+), male, female, nonbinary
MARKING Pivotal Moments in Time
Joe Koen & Son Jewelers is the Official Time Keeper of Run For The Water, including the Hill Challenge, in partnership with Lululemon. Joe Koen & Son Jewelers has a long and respected history of excellence, value, and impeccable customer service. On race day they will log results for every runner, united with our mission to bring more clean water to Burundi.
Winners will be honored post-race in the Winner’s Circle at the post-race festival, and their names will be celebrated on the finish line screens.
POWERED BY Purpose: Lululemon’s ROLE
Lululemon joins as a partner of the inaugural Hill Challenge, collaborating with the Gazelle Foundation to inspire movement with meaning. Together, we are encouraging thousands to rise to the challenge and help others rise, too—by bringing clean water closer to those who need it most.
"Together with Lululemon we will deliver game-changing motivation to help people get after it and chase greatness," said Mason Wheeless, Race Director of Run For The Water. “Running is meant to be joyful and hill training is part of that.”
THE MEANING BEHIND THE CLIMB
The Hill Challenge, isn’t just about elevation, it’s about impact. As Gazelle Foundation Co-Founder, running coach, and Burundian native Gilbert Tuhabonye explains, “When you train on hills, you build endurance, muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness and mental power. Through this challenge, we inspire fitness while delivering something more essential: access to clean water for life.
Every step up a hill here shortens the walk for someone in Burundi — from four miles to just 400 meters.” See what individuals in Burundi tell us about the difference clean water has made for them.
OUR Mission, YOUR MOVEMENT for Change
Women and children spend hours walking miles and miles to fetch water, which often isn’t clean. The Gazelle Foundation’s sustainable, gravity-fed water systems collect and filter water before it can be contaminated. Through hand-dug distribution pipes, water is distributed throughout communities at tap stands like this one. This reduces the distance to fetch clean water from 4 miles to 400 meters.
The Gazelle Foundation was founded in 2006 by a passionate group of Central Texans inspired by Gilbert’s journey as a national champion runner and genocide survivor. Since then, the nonprofit has built 73 clean water systems and counting across rural Burundi, serving more than 138,000 people with sustainable, life-changing infrastructure. See our impact.
In one of the poorest countries in the world, clean water means health, education, and opportunity. Each Run For The Water race registration fuels this life-changing work.
Two Countries. One Purpose.
There’s something poetic about a race in Austin, Texas — known for its rolling terrain and vibrant running community — fueling transformation in Burundi’s Bururi Province, a mountainous area with its own breathtaking, tropical hillsides. The Run For The Water Hill Challenge in partnership with Lululemon brings these two worlds together, turning every climb into a symbol of hope and strength.
Whether you’re running the hill segment to win or just to prove to yourself you can do hard things, know this: you’re climbing for a reason.
How to Get Involved
Register for the 10-Miler, 5K, Kids K or Global Run: RunForTheWater.com. Choose the 10-miler to automatically sign up for the Hill Challenge, in partnership with Lululemon.
Train and share: Tag your hill training on Strava or social with #HillChampionTraining #CrownTheClimb or #R4TWChallengeAccepted
Join the mission: Learn more about the Gazelle Foundation’s work on our blog, which features regular updates.
These children are fetching water from a water system currently under construction. A tap stand will soon be connected to these pipes.
This November 9, 2025, whether you’re powering up an Austin hill or running your own course virtually from across the world, you’re part of something bigger. You’re helping us crown the climb — and bring clean water, health, and hope to communities who need it most.