THE true scale of marathon man Mark Allison’s attempt to traverse America dawned on him when he finalised his route across 13 states this week.
Mark is on a 93-day countdown to the start of his epic run across the breadth of the US.
The 38-year-old’s dream of conquering one of the world’s great running feats will be launched in just 13 weeks’ time.
Mark has now finalised his route from the east to west coast, across 13 states, covering 3,100 miles over 100 days.
And the father-of-one is putting in place a huge support crew of medics, masseurs, sports therapists and drivers who will follow him on a “team bus” along thousands of miles of lonely highways.
The start line has now been set for May 1 from Huntington Beach, near Los Angeles in California, before mammoth legs through Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the finishing straight in New York state.
Mark will run through some of North America’s most stunning landmarks, including the Mojave Desert, Las Vegas, Berthoud Pass in the Colorado Rockies at 11,300ft, the “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Broadway in New York.
Mark, from Shotley Bridge, County Durham, said: “This is truly shaping up to be the challenge that I hoped it would be.
“It’s a massive, massive distance and over three times the size of my successful run from John O’Groats to Land’s End in 2007.
“Throw into the mix the fact I will be away from my family for over three months and this promises to be as challenging emotionally as well as physically.
“I’ll be leaving Newcastle on April 26 on a lunchtime flight to Los Angeles via Heathrow.
“I’ll arrive in LA in the early evening on the same day and will then have four days to prepare for the big set-off on May 1.
“There is a lot of planning and organisation still to be done. Thanks go to British Airways for giving me a discount on the flights to LA from Newcastle and back again from New York.
“They did ask if they could help me arrange the flights from LA to New York, but I told them ‘I’ll be running that bit!’.”
Mark, an IT contractor for Northern Rock, aims to become the first Geordie to run from California to New York to raise £50,000 for the Children’s Foundation and St Benedict’s Hospice in Sunderland.
He has so far raised over £20,000 in donations.
Mark will be running in memory of his mother Margery, as well as his father Terry who died of cancer in 1988 and his brother David who died from a brain haemorrhage in 1998.
In the summer of 2007, he ran 874 miles from John O’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in 37 days raising £34,108 for St Benedict’s Hospice.
His mother spent her final days in St Benedict’s as her brave battle against cancer came to an end in 1995.
For a £2 donation, members of the public can ask Mark to run a “mile in memory” of their lost loved one at any stage on his run across America.
For more information, to see Mark’s detailed route or to make a donation visit www.rungeordierun.com
