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Paul Staso is making good on a promise to 41 young students in Montana, and a local physical education teacher is hoping Staso’s inspirational story will jump start a fitness program at Shields Elementary School.
Staso is running solo across the United States from the Pacific Haystacks in Cannon Beach, Ore., to the Atlantic shore at Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes. On Sunday, Sept. 3, he passed the 2,000-mile mark in Minnesota during his Run Across America.
Staso’s inspiration was the dedication of his wife’s fifth-grade students at Russell Elementary School in Missoula, Mont., members of the first classroom in the country to complete a virtual trek across the United States. They made the journey to promote youth fitness by walking and running on the school track and in their neighborhoods, logging an average of 78 miles. Plotted on a map, their total miles took them coast-to-coast - 3,200 real miles covering 15 virtual states. Their final virtual steps were in the sands of Cape Henlopen State Park on April 25.
Staso’s run and the miles logged by the students touched Lewes physical education teacher and runner Tim Bamforth.
Once the Shields Elementary School teacher found out about the students’ program in May, it didn’t take long for him to take action – one day actually. Bamforth said the Montana students tried to make contact with Shields in January while they were taking their virtual walk, but the emails were lost.
During his conversation with teachers at the Montana school, Bamforth discovered that Staso was making a solo run across the country, ending in Lewes. Bamforth is busy making plans for the runner’s anticipated arrival in mid-October.
Bamforth, the founder of the Seashore Strider Running Club, could not let an opportunity like this pass by. “It would be great if we could get him to swing into Shields as he passes down Savannah Road so we could have 500 kids there cheering for him,” said Bamforth. “We will have kids, Striders and adults participating with him the last couple miles to the finish line. We need to be there for him and greet him at the ocean.”
Bamforth plans to have state and local officials greet the runner at the finish line at Cape Henlopen State Park.
Along the route volunteers are housing the runner each night. Bamforth, working through his Seashore Strider connections, has already secured housing once he crosses into Virginia.
Bamforth said most people do not have an appreciation for what Staso is accomplishing. He is running solo without a support team, averaging 30 miles a day. “He is out there by himself with just a cell phone and GPS pushing a 65-pound stroller. Many people have run across the country, but they always have a support crew. I don’t know how his legs are holding up doing this kind of mileage.”
Staso is an ultra marathoner who has completed 100-mile runs in a day.
Students will trek
Bamforth is hoping that Staso will help kick off the Shields virtual run/walk across the United States. Students in the school are gearing up to model the program the Missoula students completed – only in reverse from Lewes to Cannon Beach.
“We are going to walk and jog around the track here doing the same thing going back the other way. It would be ideal for him to fire the starting gun and join us for one lap around the track to start us. Possibly he will do that,” said Bamforth.
“But I have made it clear that Tim Bamforth is not going across the country when the kids finish.”
All of the attention to fitness is a step in the right direction, Bamforth said.
He said inactivity and obesity among young people is becoming a national epidemic. In a recent edition of “Child Magazine,” Delaware was ranked 38th among states in relation to child nutrition and physical education.
Nearly 35 percent of youth in Delaware are overweight or at risk of being overweight and 15 percent are obese, according to Nemours Health and Prevention Services, a Delaware organization dedicated to pediatric health.
“We need something like this; we need a kick start for fitness. Hopefully the kids and teachers will buy into it. The fourth- and fifth-graders are already in,” said Bamforth.
Students in their own grade will complete the virtual walk – one step at a time – as Bamforth charts their progress on a large map.
In the meantime, they will monitor the progress of Paul Staso as he makes his way to Lewes – one step at a time.
Why he does it
One of Staso’s daily journal entries sums up his feelings as he pounds out miles on his Run Across America.
“I often have people tell me, or write to me, that they are absolutely amazed that I can cover such long distances on a daily basis. Much of my ability is rooted in my personal faith, a tenacious determination, acquired mental strength, and a genuine physical ability to withstand hours on the road.
“Many athletes possess these qualities and I am certainly not ‘unique’ in the world of ultra marathon runners. I may be “unique” to you because you don’t personally know anyone else who can do such extreme running. For me, it’s just something I can do well and I am well motivated to cross the entire United States and stop when my running shoes have touched the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.”
The website is www.paceerun.com.
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