Day one is underway!
Our day started out a little slow, as we woke up about 45 minutes later than we wanted. Jack's aunt and uncle, along with his 93 year old grandma, met us at our starting point to see us off! Once we arrived, we got pictures with the 'Welcome to West Virginia' sign and ceremoniously ran the first hundred yards together as a group. From there, Brian took the wheel for the first stretch. Jack and I ran the first 5 miles which ended at a Curves. There was a man at the convenience store attached to it that offered us slushies, but we politely turned them down and continued on our way.
Jack took over driving for the second section. Our second stopping point was close to an on-ramp to the highway. After stopping for a few minutes and helping a lady with directions to the airport, Jack and Brian set off on the next stretch. As I drove, I tried to look for a shady spot to stop and pull over. After stopping, I had a driver pull over with me and ask if I needed any help - and I just told him that I was waiting for a few friends. He said, 'Are they joggin'? Ah - they're coming soon!' After that 5 miles, Brian had a crick in his neck, but luckily it was his turn to drive.
I took over running with Jack from there. He was starting to feel dehydrated about part of the way through, but we made it to Brian as he stopped at an Exxon station. We decided that with it being 2pm, we were at a good place to break for lunch. The internet tells us rain is on the way, so hopefully the storm will pass quickly and we can finish up in dry weather.
We're currently sitting at the food court at Robinson Mall where we've enjoyed a nice Subway lunch. The weather appears to be worsening, so we're grateful to have coverage, air conditioning, and people to watch. To this point, we have completed 20 miles! According to our goal for the day, that leaves us with 10 to complete before darkness. What's nice about that is that we have some time to relax and let this storm blow over before we head back out on the roads. It was relatively hot as the afternoon wore on, and we searched for any shade we could find along the way. Nobody has fallen ill, gotten lost, or has been injured, so we feel that we are successful thus far!
Thanks for the well-wishes and support! Look for an update once we reach our overnight location tonight.
Tim
Friday, September 3, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Tomorrow!
Amidst nearly missed flights, traffic jams, and a near elevator gaffe, all three of us are now safely at the Lucarelli residence for the evening!
My journey started at around 4pm when I arrived in Drexel Hill to meet my ride to the airport. Thanks to the Philadelphia traffic, a 15 mile trip took nearly 50 minutes to complete, putting me at the airport at approximately 4:50pm. After waiting in line for my boarding pass, I started the process of checking in two of my bags. I was then informed that my bags were checked in late, and that there was no guarantee that they would be on the same flight as me. At this point, I had very little choice, so I continued on my way. At the next stairwell, I realized that the brochure the lady had given me did not include my boarding pass, so I backtracked to retrieve that very important document! After rushing through the long line at security, the clock said 5:15pm. I had 10 minutes to find my gate and make my flight. I grabbed my carry-on, took off my flip flops and sprinted barefoot to the terminal. I arrived to find out the flight was slightly delayed - and so I made it in plenty of time. While waiting to board the plane, I saw my bags being loaded on the plane, and finally I was at ease! I pulled into Pittsburgh at approximately 6:40pm.
Brian was coming straight from work to pick me up at the airport. A trip that would normally take him about 30 minutes was seemingly infinitely longer on this day in particular. There was a Pittsburgh Steeler's preseason game in the city, and traffic was a nightmare because of it. After taking about an hour to go just over a mile, Brian arrived at the airport in just over two hours of travel time. We then headed on our way back to his apartment.
Jack was to meet us at the Lucarelli's at 8pm. He arrived around that time, but opted to stay in his car and make phone calls until we got closer to returning. In the meantime, Brian's wife left the apartment to go do laundry. As she was going down on the elevator, the power went out, leaving her stranded! During her brief call to 911, the power came on again for a long enough period of time for her to get off the elevator. (She opted for the stairs on the way back up to the apartment...) Had Jack decided to come in right away, he would have likely been the one stuck on the elevator.
All that said, we are now together for the first time in a long time. We took a look at the route tomorrow, including places were we can stop off safely tomorrow as we rotate drivers. Our run ideally starts early tomorrow around 8am - which means we leave here around 6am! Jack's 93 year old grandmother will be at our starting point to see us off from her wheelchair - so we have incentive to be on time and ready to go. :)
Stay tuned!
Tim
My journey started at around 4pm when I arrived in Drexel Hill to meet my ride to the airport. Thanks to the Philadelphia traffic, a 15 mile trip took nearly 50 minutes to complete, putting me at the airport at approximately 4:50pm. After waiting in line for my boarding pass, I started the process of checking in two of my bags. I was then informed that my bags were checked in late, and that there was no guarantee that they would be on the same flight as me. At this point, I had very little choice, so I continued on my way. At the next stairwell, I realized that the brochure the lady had given me did not include my boarding pass, so I backtracked to retrieve that very important document! After rushing through the long line at security, the clock said 5:15pm. I had 10 minutes to find my gate and make my flight. I grabbed my carry-on, took off my flip flops and sprinted barefoot to the terminal. I arrived to find out the flight was slightly delayed - and so I made it in plenty of time. While waiting to board the plane, I saw my bags being loaded on the plane, and finally I was at ease! I pulled into Pittsburgh at approximately 6:40pm.
Brian was coming straight from work to pick me up at the airport. A trip that would normally take him about 30 minutes was seemingly infinitely longer on this day in particular. There was a Pittsburgh Steeler's preseason game in the city, and traffic was a nightmare because of it. After taking about an hour to go just over a mile, Brian arrived at the airport in just over two hours of travel time. We then headed on our way back to his apartment.
Jack was to meet us at the Lucarelli's at 8pm. He arrived around that time, but opted to stay in his car and make phone calls until we got closer to returning. In the meantime, Brian's wife left the apartment to go do laundry. As she was going down on the elevator, the power went out, leaving her stranded! During her brief call to 911, the power came on again for a long enough period of time for her to get off the elevator. (She opted for the stairs on the way back up to the apartment...) Had Jack decided to come in right away, he would have likely been the one stuck on the elevator.
All that said, we are now together for the first time in a long time. We took a look at the route tomorrow, including places were we can stop off safely tomorrow as we rotate drivers. Our run ideally starts early tomorrow around 8am - which means we leave here around 6am! Jack's 93 year old grandmother will be at our starting point to see us off from her wheelchair - so we have incentive to be on time and ready to go. :)
Stay tuned!
Tim
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Big News Day
As I mentioned in my last post, Waynesburg University has put together a press release about our run (click here to read it!). A huge thanks goes out to Pam and Vikki at WU for getting this together. Their enthusiasm has given us a much-needed dose of motivation.
Our next step is to get the word out to newspapers and media in the towns along our route. If you know of any media outlet that might be interested in our little adventure, let us know (crossingPA@gmail.com).
In other news, we've been getting a great response from people and organizations that have offered all kinds of supplies for our run: from energy bars to first aid supplies to reflective clothing (safety first!). Expect the "our supporters" page to be updated in the near future, once we sort out the responses that we've received.
Our next step is to get the word out to newspapers and media in the towns along our route. If you know of any media outlet that might be interested in our little adventure, let us know (crossingPA@gmail.com).
In other news, we've been getting a great response from people and organizations that have offered all kinds of supplies for our run: from energy bars to first aid supplies to reflective clothing (safety first!). Expect the "our supporters" page to be updated in the near future, once we sort out the responses that we've received.
Monday, August 16, 2010
It's starting to come together...
Hey everyone,
It's been a busy week for us as we've started to get the word out about our run, and the response has been really positive. There's a lot of stuff in the works, but we don't have much to show for it yet.
Our friends at Waynesburg University are working on putting out a press release for us, so we're pretty excited about that. We'll be sure to link to that as soon as it goes out.
Lodging is also starting to work itself out, as we have at least a tentative place to stay in 6 of the 10 towns where we plan to sleep. We're still looking for a place to sleep in the following towns:
Last but not least, thanks to Map My Run (a free site that lets you map your routes, view route elevation, and keep track of your workouts, among other cool stuff), we have an elevation profile of our route. As it turns out, Pennsylvania is not flat.
It's been a busy week for us as we've started to get the word out about our run, and the response has been really positive. There's a lot of stuff in the works, but we don't have much to show for it yet.
Our friends at Waynesburg University are working on putting out a press release for us, so we're pretty excited about that. We'll be sure to link to that as soon as it goes out.
Lodging is also starting to work itself out, as we have at least a tentative place to stay in 6 of the 10 towns where we plan to sleep. We're still looking for a place to sleep in the following towns:
- Jennerstown
- Bedford
- Newburg
- Harrisburg
Last but not least, thanks to Map My Run (a free site that lets you map your routes, view route elevation, and keep track of your workouts, among other cool stuff), we have an elevation profile of our route. As it turns out, Pennsylvania is not flat.
Yikes. I'm certainly looking forward to Day 7, when we can say that the worst of the run is behind us.
That's all I have for now. Hopefully I'll be posting more often in the near future as we finalize more details. Thanks for reading!
-Brian
Monday, August 9, 2010
Hello, World!
Hello and welcome to our little home on the web. In case you haven't heard about us yet, here's a brief summary: we're three 20-somethings who arbitrarily decided to run across the state of Pennsylvania to raise money and awareness for our charities.
Hopefully we'll be updating this site regularly as we finalize more details and get the word out to more people. Feel free to explore the site to find out more about us, the charities that we're running for, and where we'll be running.
Stay tuned for more details!
-Brian
Hopefully we'll be updating this site regularly as we finalize more details and get the word out to more people. Feel free to explore the site to find out more about us, the charities that we're running for, and where we'll be running.
Stay tuned for more details!
-Brian
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