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| 10/4/2006 3:06:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Cross-country runner Paul Staso stayed overnight in Ada last Saturday on his trek from Oregon to Delaware. He covers 34 miles a day with only his 65-pound supply stroller for help. |
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Cross-country runner stays in Ada during
3,200-mile trek
Hopes historic solo run inspires youth fitness
By JASON SIMCOE
Ada Herald intern
ADA- For Paul Staso, a promise is a promise - even if it means running 3,200 miles across the continent to keep it.
At the beginning of the 2005-06 school year, Staso told his wife's fourth and fifth grade health education classes at Russell Elementary in Missoula, Montana, that if they completed a "virtual" run across America before school let out for the summer, he would actually run all the way across the continent.
The goal: to inspire the kids to get in shape. Staso and his wife, Vicki, devised the program after their 11-year-old daughter Ashlin complained to her father about the lack of fitness among young people.
The Staso's devised the virtual run and Ashlin mapped out the route. In class, Vicki challenged the kids to run a lap or two around a half mile track near school each day.
She carefully tallied the laps and charted the progress, and as the classes virtually made their way across America, other teachers got on board, incorporating history and geography lessons into the run.
The fourth and fifth grade classes jumped at the project - the kids enthusiastically ran laps each day in class and some even did their homework, running extra laps on evenings and weekends to further the cause.
"I had my doubts early on because they fell behind pace quite a bit, but I believed they would do it when I saw them in zero-degree weather in December running," Staso said.
When the end of the year came, both classes had made the virtual trek across the nation, so on June 23, Staso, who runs his own web development business, laced up his shoes in Elsie, Oregon. In mid-October he'll arrive in Lewes, Delaware.
"I'm 82 percent done. I've run 2,700 miles; I've got 500 to go. I run 210 miles a week, 34 miles every day, and in 20 days I'll be done," Paul said from the home of ONU head baseball coach Justin Bergman Saturday.
He runs 34 miles each day, like clockwork. He's all alone on the road, except for his supply stroller, "Bob", in which he carries everything he needs for the trip - shoes, food, water and Gatorade.
It's even solar-powered, for his cell phone, GPS system and stereo.
But other than "Bob", Staso is on his own, alone on the roads day in and day out, half a continent from his family. For him, that's been the biggest obstacle.
"I've been married 19 years, I have four kids. Being away from them is the hardest part. I talk to them on the phone every night and they're saying 'Dad, can't you run a little faster?'
"I've been gone three months and a week - that's a long time to be away from your family. I've only seen them one time, that was in Aberdeen, South Dakota at the halfway point. I took a day off and we spent the day together," he said.
As he's made his way across the country, he's seen it all. He's fought through wind, rain and heat. He's even had to deal with dangerous drivers, yanking "Bob", which weighs 65 pounds fully stocked, off the road to avoid being turned into road kill.
He's not the first person to run across the country - 190 have made the trek, but only six other people have made the trip solo.
"I knew that it would be the pinnacle of my running career and the most difficult challenge I've taken on in running, so I wanted to make it the most difficult, so I chose to do it solo," Staso said.
He'll run through parts of 15 states before it's all said and done, and the variety of landscape he's encountered along the way has not been without difficulty.
"Each part of the country has its own challenges. You've got to get over the Rocky Mountains. West to east is a good route to go because you get that done first. Then after the Rockies, of course, you're heading into the plains, the desert areas of eastern Montana and the Dakotas. There were plenty of 100 degree days, all the creeks were dried up, the cattle were dying. It was really desolate, day after day, week after week. To hit Minnesota, it was color - it was green. Emotionally, it was a real boost. I started hitting some rain which was wonderful," he said.
Staso's trek has generated a buzz across the country. He's been contacted by countless media outlets and has received letters from several senators and governors.
In two weeks, he'll make an appearance at the White House. What began as a simple class project to improve the health of a few students in Montana has spurred nationwide interest and has helped bring the lack of fitness among young people into the limelight.
Now, as Staso nears the end of his trip, his message remains about three simple things - the power of a promise, the importance of commitment, and personal health.
"You have one body. Take care of it and it will take you places," he said.
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