Charlie Engle

Charlie Engle, Treatment Advisor and Spokesperson for Anonymous Health, has lived an extraordinary life, challenging himself to go beyond his limits to explore the furthest reaches of his capabilities. He is one of three people in history to have run the Sahara Desert – a journey captured in the movie, “Running the Sahara”, narrated by Matt Damon.

Charlie has been clean and sober since 1992, and yet still struggles with the addict that lives inside him despite no longer having the desire to drink or use drugs. Instead of trying to kill his addictive nature, he chose to channel it into positive, purpose-driven pursuits. In addition to his many legendary runs, Charlie has served on the advisory boards of Ashley Treatment Centers of Baltimore, MD, Healing Transitions in Raleigh, NC, and the Deepak Chopra Foundation. He has also been a keynote speaker on subjects such as addiction and resilience, sharing his experiences at NATO and the United Nations World Water Conference. He is also the co-founder of Water.org with Matt Damon.

In addition to sharing his story in the memoir Running Man published by Scribner in 2016, Charlie has been profiled in many major media outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, the Associated Press, and many others. He has also won awards for his article, “Notorious,” sharing the story behind the infamous Barkley Marathon trail-running competition for Runner’s World. Charlie is a happily married father of two sons.