An Austin business owner and avid runner is one of thousands of runners competing to make the cover of “Runner’s World.”

Kelly Nesvold is competing in the 2015 Runner’s World Cover Search, where runners can apply online.

Last year, Nesvold ran 100 miles in 100M4Hunger to raise money to buy 100,000 meals for children overseas. Now, he’s prepping to embark on 300M4Freedom in August 2016 to raise money to raise awareness about human trafficking.

“I run most importantly to raise awareness and generate funds for great causes,” Nesvold wrote in his submission. “I feel like God has blessed me with a gift of not being fast but being able to go great distances and I feel compelled to use that gift to make the world a better place.”

Nesvold said he signed up on a whim after seeing a Facebook post about the contest. As of Thursday morning, Nesvold had 403 votes. And while he admitted he likely wouldn’t make the cover, he said his biggest goal was to bring exposure to his running causes.

Nesvold is continuing to train for next year’s 300M4Freedom. The triathlon will start with a 5-mile swim across Pokegama Lake in Grand Rapids, a 240-mile bike through the metro area, and a 55-mile run through Faribault and to Austin.

Nesvold has tried doing two ironman triathlons, which would be about half the planned 300M4Freedom trek: 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running.

However, Nesvold hasn’t completed his first two attempts after making it through the biking and swimming portions but stopping during the run due to back spasms and heat. He plans to try again in August and said he’ll feel good if he can get to the halfway point a year before 300M4Freedom.

Vote for Kelly Nesvold in the Runner’s World Cover Search at http://coversearch.runnersworld.com/entry/1225