WHERE IN THE WORLD DID THIS IDEA ORIGINATE?

Forrest Gump.  Seriously.  When I saw that movie, I thought that the fact that Tom Hank’s character dropped everything and just started running was the coolest thing.  It was incredible to me that someone (although fictional) could just pick up and run across the country.  It was the ultimate sign of freedom, athleticism, physical endurance, mental toughness and stamina.  In high school, my teammate Steve P. and I joked around about how someday we might do the very same thing.  Although we were dreaming, I always knew it was something I wanted to do.  I just didn’t know when I would do it.

After high school, I attended Fordham University in New York City.  I had a great running career there filled with a plentitude of memorable moments.  My teammates were amazing.  We trained hard and we played hard (Hoffman, Clarks, alumni…).   I learned many great lessons from running throughout my college career that can be applied to my run.  However, there is one in particular that is relevant. 

Every year, Coach Dewey, the coach of the Fordham Men’s and Women’s cross country, indoor and outdoor track programs would take the seniors out to dinner to show his appreciation for our four years of hard work.  My senior year he took us to Giovanni’s on Arthur Avenue (really good food).  At one point during dinner, Coach Dewey told some of us how he had had an assortment of different jobs throughout his life and how he loved it because it taught him something different each time he had a new job.

The lesson that I took from Coach Dewey’s little ‘speech’ (which I am not sure if Coach or others would interpret it in the same manner) was that it is important to always try new things because one will learn from different situations, whether positive or negative.  Furthermore, his experience showed me that one did not always have to follow the guidelines of society.  In other words, it is not imperative that every college graduate has his or her mind made up as to a career choice upon graduation.  Oftentimes, society expects people to go to college, get one job, get married and live happily ever after.  It seems that sometimes it is frowned upon if someone quits a job and goes hiking in Europe for a year or works as a waitress for six months.  However, these experiences teach people valuable lessons about themselves and give them different perspectives on life that they might not have obtained had they not taken the time. 

After Fordham, I went to Australia and received my Master’s in Professional Ethics (Australia was amazing and I strongly encourage everyone to visit).  Upon returning from Oz, I began working for a newspaper and Red Bull.  After much deliberation, I decided that I would apply to law school.  I did not get in.  However, during the time I was studying for my LSAT’s I saw an article on the cover of The Running Times telling how two 25 year olds had run across the country pushing a baby jogger and staying in people’s homes (their website is www.runtheusa.com).  In May 2004, it hit me.  I thought to myself, this is something I have wanted to do all my life…so, what better time than the present.

After I figured out that I wanted to do the run, I had to figure out the logistics of it i.e., how far I was gonna run a day, if I was gonna do the run with anybody and so on.  I was also was concerned with making the run original.  Because this has been done before (approx 200 times www.runtheusa.com) I didn’t want to just copy someone’s idea. 

Over the next five months I thought a lot about the idea of this run and what it meant to me.  After much deliberation I realized that this run was not about being original so-to-speak.  It was about doing something that I had wanted to do for a while.  It was about thinking outside of the box, setting a goal and achieving it.  I also realized that certain people who had done this run before implemented some really good ideas.  For instance, Dave and Scott, who did this run in 2003 from New Jersey to Oregon, used a baby jogger to carry their belongings.  I thought this was very clever.  Furthermore, since I started running, I have had an interest in health and nutrition.  So, I figured that this run would be a good way to promote exercise and health.  

Overall, I just want to promote the idea of doing something that one has never done before or doing something that you like but haven’t done in a while.  It doesn’t matter if it’s starting to exercise or going hang gliding.  Just do something as long as it’s positive.