Reza Baluchi wanted to run on water from Florida to New York in a large hamster-wheel-like contraption (yes, really).
Mr Baluchi, a 49-year-old athlete and activist living in the US, was intending to travel 1,609km north from Florida’s east coast to New York.
He “walks on water” using a large human-sized cylindrical container, with multiple floating devices attached to each side, that he calls a ‘hydropod’.
The trip was meant to take three weeks however he ended up being rescued 42km south of his starting point in St Augustine, Florida.
Mr Baluchi encountered “complications that brought him back to shore”, and was “safe with no injuries”, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said.
“My goal is to not only raise money for homeless people, raise money for the Coast Guard, raise money for the police department, raise money for the fire department. They are in public service, they do it for safety and they help other people,” Mr Baluchi said before embarking on his third attempt to walk on water.
He is well known to the US Coast Guard, having failed in 2014 to reach Bermuda and Puerto Rica and in 2016, failing to reach Bermuda. He has run from Los Angeles to New York twice and once circled the US perimeter in an 18,862km trek.
People donate to his organisation, Run with Reza, to track his treks in real time on his website and watch his livestreams.
He says he wants to inspire others to do the same – given his history of rescues, we’re not sure that is advisable.
