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 Inspired by Forrest Gump, the simple but well-intentioned man
played by actor Tom Hanks in the 1994 Academy Award-winning
movie of the same name, Oudersluys decided to run across America
and set out to do it in 100 days.
"I decided if Forrest Gump could run across the country, I could
do it too," he said in a telephone interview this week after he
had completed his 61st day of running in Mount Pulaski,
Illinois.
Rising every morning around 6 a.m., the 23-year-old from
Birmingham, Michigan, has kept a daily pace of 30 to 33 miles(48
to 53 km), a distance greater than a marathon. Like Gump, he is
running from the Santa Monica Pier in California to the Marshall
Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde, Maine, a route already taken by
an undocumented number of runners.
Oudersluys' plan, dubbed Project Gump, will take him through 14
states and over about 3,150 miles (5,070 km), ending on Aug. 16,
shortly before the University of Michigan graduate with
bachelor's and master's degrees in nuclear engineering starts
law school at the University of California, Berkeley.
In the movie, Gump's repeated cross-country jogs inspire people
to join him. Oudersluys is in turn trying to raise $10,000 for
the Hall Steps Foundation, a charity started in 2009 by two
professional distance runners to fight global poverty. About
halfway to his goal, Oudersluys plans to donate the money to
help build a well in Mozambique.
While many on his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts
documenting the run laud him, some question whether he can
finish the run without his body breaking down.
Dr. Paul Thompson, a sports medicine specialist and chief of
cardiology at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, said Oudersluys
is racing into the unknown.
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"From a medical point of view, we don't really have that much
knowledge about what that can do because there aren't that many
people that do that sort of thing," he said.
Since this isn't a race, Oudersluys' pace can be slower, allowing
for less damage to the muscles and less stress on the heart, Dr.
Thompson said.
While friends have helped in some stretches, driving his white 2003
Dodge Caravan minivan, Oudersluys at times has had to act as his own
support. On those days, he leaves his bicycle at the starting point,
drives to his end point, runs back to the bike and then bikes back
to the car before resting for the day.
Oudersluys sometimes stays with friends, but most of the time he
sleeps in his van, using a small stove to cook.
Strange sights on his trip so far include a lonely shoe-draped tree
in the Mojave Desert and zebras on a Colorado farm.
After beginning his journey on May 9, Oudersluys, 5-foot-9 (175 cm)
and he guesses 10 pounds (4.5 kg) lighter than his starting weight
of 165 pounds (75 kg), has had few companions other than those with
four legs.
"I've had a lot of dogs come run with me," he said. "Most stay for
like five or 10 miles (8 or 16 km). I don't know how they end up
getting home."
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
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