Group of elite runners pass through Adams County

Four runners began a journey from Twin Harbors Beach State Park on May 30 and the trip is expected to last 80 days as the group runs across the United States. Jennifer Bradley, Justin Faulke, Marty Sprengelmeyer and Mike Samuelson are all participating in Run Across America on Trails (RAAoT), which gives the runners a route comprised of old railroad lines or trails to run on, but also roadways when trails are not an option.

The RAAoT route is 3,360 miles long and the group completes their run at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. The journey takes the runners on 20 rail or canal trails and about 2,000 miles of roadways.

Samuelson and his parents, Pat and Karl, visited Adams County in mid-May to scout the John Wayne Pioneer Trail route and meet with property owners where the trail passed through their land. On May 20, the Samuelson crew met at Joan and Jake Harder’s ranch to discuss the journey and the route the runners hoped to take.

Mike and his parents spent around 35 days planning the route the runners would take and tracking the route on a Global Positioning System (GPS). At the Harder’s ranch, a train trestle had been removed, making impossible for the runners to follow the John Wayne Trail through the ranch.

Even though Mike is running the trails, he is also an avid cyclist. After meeting with the Harder’s and being shown an alternate route through the ranch, Mike grabbed his bike and tracked the route on his GPS device.

Karl explained that Mike’s training included running 20 miles and biking 40 miles daily. A former United States Marine, Mike has spent the majority of his life being in exceptional shape and has always enjoyed running and hiking.

“I started taking him hiking when he was six,” Karl explained. The family has always enjoyed an active, outdoor lifestyle, especially the father and son duo that has been hiking together for many years.

Mike, now 46-years-old, first discovered his passion for running when he began participating in track and cross country in high school. He currently is the director for two local marathons in Memphis, Tenn. where he currently lives with his wife Heidi and 17-year-old son, Zach.

“The human body can do anything it’s trained to do,” said Mike about his ability to complete the nation-wide run he is currently on.

Mike participated in his first marathon in 1984 and his first Ultra Marathon in 1997. Since 2004, Mike has participated in over 20 different 100-mile runs.

The group on the RAAoT is averaging 40 miles a day and spends each night in a hotel instead of camping. The four runners are all at different training points in their running careers and have individual crews that station themselves at various access points throughout the trails.

The group received unfortunate news on the third day of their run when they learned 65-year-old Sprengelmeyer could no longer continue the run due to a knee injury. Sprengelmeyer and his crew stayed with the runners until June 10 when the group decided to return home.

Sprengelmeyer is not the only runner that has had to deal with injuries and each runner has days when injuries prevent them from the 12 minute mile pace they try to keep. Bradley has slowed significantly due to a quadriceps injury and has been walking or maintaining a slight jog throughout the last few weeks.

Bradley is a native of England and currently resides in London, where she has been training as a runner and cyclist for the past nine years. Bradley has joined the RAAoT group in an attempt to be the first British woman to run across the United States.

According to Bradley’s blog, only 225 people have completed the run across the nation and only 17 of those runners have been women. There are only 15 British individuals who have ever completed the journey. For more information about Bradley, visit her blog at http://www.runningandbaking.com.

Faulke is a resident of Flagstaff, Ariz. and though he has suffered with an ankle injury during the RAAoT, he has managed to finish well ahead of the other runners each day. Faulke’s blog is available at http://www.justinrunningacrossamerica.blogspot.com.

Mike explained that all cross-country runs begin in the west and run east because of the wind. The runners have blogged about the amount of wind they encountered throughout Washington State and how they are glad it pushes them along instead of having to run against it.

Karl, Pat and Heidi Samuelson are all part of the Samuelson Crew during the journey and currently, Heidi is traveling alongside Mike.

“You’ll do anything for your kids,” Pat said about their trip across the nation, and helping Mike record the trail before the run.

The trio left the 145-mile stretch of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail when they crossed the border into Idaho on June 11, where they follow the Trail of the Coeur d’ Alenes for 72 miles.

To follow Mike’s blog, visit http://www.runacrossamericaontrail.blogspot.com. For more information about the run, visit http://www.runacrossamericaontrail.com.