I think I'll go home now.

Sorry about taking so long to get the posted.

Where do I start with the finish?

I guess I could start at the beginning. I had 18 miles to do. And it was in the mid 80s and lots of sun. A perfect day for running.

My brother started running with me and said he would run until he got tired and then have my dad pick him up. He did the whole 18 miles on a whim. Way to go Kevin!

As we got closer and closer to the ocean the mixture of salt from the air, humidity, and heat from the day was stifling. Kevin didn't wear Sunscreen and he now has blisters on his shoulders from the sunburn. Sore muscles, sore skin. I've got one tough brother.

The finish was huge. After the bridge getting onto the island, with 4.5 miles to go, I was joined by my friends Adam and Thomas, my brother was still running, and my sister Colleen. Later down the road my cousin, Chris, joined me after inhaling a burger. We had one police car in front of us and two in back.

Katie and a ton of my friends came drove down from Virginia for the finish.

There were more people lining the beach than I could count. I passed through the Fleet Feet arch two paper finish lines, several signs, and flags. Ahead of me was the Atlantic ocean. I was there. I was done.

I crossed the sand and tore off my shoes. Right next to the water's edge stood Katie and all of my friends. Those last few steps before the water were a blur. A combination of relief, and pure joy washed over me when I jumped into the Atlantic Ocean. Besides, it was awarm day so jumping in the water felt really good.

I came out of the water and people cheered. I hugged my parents, my friends, my family, Katie, everyone.

Later that evening there was a party at the restaurant, Fannie's. All the food was donated and we were on the third floor with a 180 degree view of the Atlantic Ocean. Tons of people came out to the party and we all had a great time.

As soon as I see some of the pictures I will post them.

There were three goals for this trip.
1) Finish
2) Raise Awareness
3) Raise $50,000

While I didn't accomplish the third, I'm not counting this as a failure. More people now know about JRA, we were able to raise $21,000, I was able to see the country in a way not too many people do, and I met people I would have never had the opportunity to meet. I am incredibly thankful for the last one.

I'll keep posting on this blog because it is a "running blog." I'll keep posting any stories or adventures I have as well as stories from the races I do. Besides, I have the 24 Hour Adventure trail run this Saturday.

I have decided this won't be my only long run. This was far too fun to never do something like this again. I don't know what is next, or when it will be, but this won't be the end. Now I need to find a job and go back to real life.

I hope to keep in touch with everyone I have met and everyone who has followed me.

Thank you.

-- Patrick

Tomorrow.

Everything revolves around tomorrow. Everything revolves around tomorrow. 18 miles left. One short day's run.

I am so lucky to have been able to do this run. I have met incredible people that I would've never has the opportunity to meet. I have seen things that I would have never seen otherwise. Seeing the country at 6 miles an hour was the perfect speed. A cruise control running trip to see the country and tell people about kids with arthritis. I'm not done yet. I'm close, but not yet. People are congratulating me about finishing. While I do appreciate it, I haven't done it yet.

People have helped me in so many ways I can't even name everyone or everything people have done. Thank you everyone for supporting me and following this blog and sending encouraging me. Your words have helped me get this far.

Last night my dad and aunt flew in and I enjoyed spending today with them walking around Savannah and figuring out specifics for tomorow.

Good day. Nice people.

-- Patrick

Savannah

Today I ran to Savannah. I can smell the ocean. It felt strange to get there because I reached water. It's not the open ocean, but there is a huge port where giant ocean cruising ships are docked; so I know this channel goes directly to the ocean.

I thought I'd take this opprotunity to shamelessly plus the ol sponsors. The two companies that sponsored me for this trip were Gu and Smartwool. Both helped me accomplish this run.

Thanks to Gu, I haven't lost a single pound (which is a good thing), and my nutrition has been stable and my energy levels are still sky high. Maybe I'll turn north... Even crazier: I still like the taste of all of them!

Smartwool socks kept my feet warm and dry or cool and dry. They not only could be worn multiple days in a row, but they didn't smell. The big impressive thing about these socks is I have run 2,531 miles and I have every last one of my toenails. For the avid or ultra runners out there, you know how impressive this is.

Both companies took a big chance trusting a 21 year old guy who said he was going to run across the country. So thank you both!

Besides the obvious good part of getting to Savannah, I had a run-in with a snapping turtle. So I stopped and played with him.

-- Patrick

3 days

A long weekend. That's all I've got left. I'm camping tonight outside the Bryan County fire station. They were really cool about it. That's actually the most exciting thing to happen all day. The rest of the day was mostly dull, just running and being tempted to knock out the remaining miles in one go. I think it's supposed to thunderstorm tonight. If it does, I'll try to get a good video of it.

In other news: since I am running across the country as a fundraiser, and I'm almost at the end of the country, that means the fundraising is almost over as well. Sunday is the last day for donations. You may do that at
Way.to/patricksrun4arthritis

If you would like to donate after Sunday, please feel free to donate directly to the Arthritis Foundation. Arthritis.org

Tell all your friends. Donate a buck.

End.





-- Patrick

Crossroads

I started this morning in slightly cooler weather. It wasn't long until I passed a very familiar road, which was strange considering I have never run across the country before. It was Route 1.
I know exactly where this road takes me. It takes me three miles from my house in Stafford. I have driven on Route 1 so many times and never gave it a second thought. In training for this run I ran from Richmond, VA to Stafford, VA all on Route 1. 70 miles overnight while pushing the baby jogger; I know the road well.

In the 40s, my grandpa Pete McGlade drove the entire length of route one. Not all of it, if any, was paved and he passed the exact spot I ran today. Just 60 some years apart. Let's just say it was hard not to turn north.

I ended today in Claxton, which by the way, is the fruitcake capital of the world. I was stoked! So I went into the store that said it baked the famous fruitcakes and bought one. The thing is, I don't like fruitcake....bummer.

Today I ran for Mackenzie Moore from Maine, all of the kids that go to CHAT (children have arthritis too) camps, Christine Citera, Macy Coad and Meredith Burtron.

3 days
-- Patrick

Work week

Today marks 5 days left. That's a normal work week or school week. It's hard to think about the fact that I only have that long until I have finished crossing a country on foot.

I've taken things "one day at a time" pretty religiously for the past 3 or so months because the mere thought of having thousands or even hundreds of miles left to go was enough to pull me down to the point where running was impossible and simply moving in the general eastward direction was all I could manage. This day to day mental management of the whole big picture is the way to tackle big situations.

The fact is, I don't have to think like this anymore. I have tomorrows run, Tuesday, Wednesday, I'm off Thursday, and the last run on Friday.

A total of 102 miles left. I've run more in a 24 hour time span; and believe me, the thought has crossed my mind more than once to just finish the distance in one shot. But I'll behave.

I'm close. And it hit me today that I don't have to take it one day at a time. I can think about the end and not picture it as a distant future event where uncertainty rules its outcome. I'll be there on Friday at 2 pm.

Today was the last day Dave ran with me. We ran to Vidalia. Home of the Vidalia onions and they won't let you forget it.

It was great running with Dave this week. He's a tough guy who kept up with no problems (at least none he told me about). I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about him picking up day after day of longer distances but he did great.


Thanks Dave.

Today I ran for Shea Sullivan from California and Kimberly Crowe from Alabama. Both have JRA.


-- Patrick

Have you hugged a fat boy today?

I've decided that it just wouldn't be a proper country crossing without a run in with a HOG rider.

Today was an interesting day. All we knew is that we were leaving Eastman for Alamo today and camping tonight.

We had forgotten that last night the channel 13 WMAZ news had shown a segment on the run. The reporter came out yesterday to our point along highway 28 and done the interview right there.

Apparently, that's the main news station because right from the beginning of the run people were honking and waving.

One guy stopped and gave us powerade.

Then we met Sherwin. He was riding his motorcyle and saw us, turned around and pulled off the road and waited for us.

As he approached us I have to admit I was anticipating some trouble. He was a rather large man riding a Harley with a leather vest and patches with "Born to Ride," "Loud pipes save lives," and "Ride or Die" all over it. He would've had no problem roughing us up a bit if he wanted to.

He turned out to be a great guy who had seen us on the news. He told us about his shop, Fat Boy Camo, and said if we stopped by he'd give us shirts. We couldn't pass it up. 5 miles down the road we came up on his shirt printing shop and stopped to talk with him some more.


Sherwin and the shirt he gave me.

We got talking about where we were staying tonight and we told him we were camping in Alamo but didn't know where.

Long story short, he knew the people that own the funeral home in town, Townes Funeral Home. And they let us, not only camp in their yard, but also let us shower in the home.

I feel very refreshed and preserved after showering there. Maybe they mix the water with the preservative the Egyptians used....maybe. Maybe not.

Regardless, we had a great time meeting the copious amounts of people today.

And today, I ran for all 140 families of JRA kids in the entire state of Oregon. Maybe I'll have to run in Oregon.

-- Patrick

Get ready to rumble

So far on this trip I think I've kept things pretty positive. No more. Today's post will be my list of complaints for this trip.

Número uno: Rumble strips

Número dos: refer to numero uno.

Okay now that we got the complaints out of the way, on with the day.

Rumble strips were the name of the game today. One loooong strip of wake-me-up for the drivers in Georgia. And one loooong piece of annoying-ness for myself and Dave.

In other news, when I started this trip way back in January the list of my "followers," as blogspot calls them (even though that sounds slightly cult-like to me), was at about 15. Now that I'm one week from the finish of this little skip across the United States, my follower number has jumped to 98. That's pretty cool, BUT wouldn't it be cooler if it were 100? Let's see if we can break 100 before Friday the 23. So tell your family, friends, guy collecting change outside the local 7-11, to follow this blog and let's break 100.

Also on the list of things to do in my last week before finishing:

So far, everyday of running has been to spread awareness of Juvenile Arthritis. This is no secret...I hope.

BUT since this is the last week, I will be mentioning kids names on the blog everyday. So if you want your kids names, or your names (whether you have arthritis or not) email me at pdmcglade@gmail.com and just put your name; first, last, both, or nickname in the subject line and I'll include it that day or the next day depending on when I get the email.

Little recap:
-Rumble strips- boooooo!!
-One more week to go
-Tell your friends to follow this blog
-Email me names to mention on the blog


7 days and counting

http://trackmytour.com/1220
This is an active map of where I've been and where I am.

-- Patrick

Water skiing in April

Since awhile back we pushed the finishing date back to the 23rd, I've had some off days to burn up. This was one of them. BUT it was only my second to last off day. My next and last one is Thursday the 22nd.

Today was great! The past two nights, Dave and I have stayed with the Collins family in Georgia.
We started off the day with going out on their boat and waterskiing. We had a blast!


Dave.


Me

Afterwards we came back to the house and relaxed for awhile. We had some time to kill so i started to mow the lawn...unfortunately the lawn mower decided it didnt want to finish so it quit working! Wierdest thing, but we couldn't get it to work.

When the kids came back from school we went back out on the boat and had some dinner at Fish n Pig.


Goooooood. 8 days.
-- Patrick

Short run

Today's run was 18 miles. The highlight was a hose after about 8 miles where Dave and I were able to get soaked and cool off for a little while.

We ended in Hawkinsville, Ga. It was a very uneventful day.

9 days. Down to single digits.

-- Patrick

Takeover

10 days.

-- Patrick

No title

Today's big happening involved a friend of mine, Dave. He decided to come down and run for a week with me while pushing his own baby jogger with his stuff. He will be doing the same miles and the same route.

It'll be good to have a running buddy until Sunday. Then he goes home, but at that point, I'll only have 5 days left. Today marks having 11 days left.

It's really starting to hit me that this is almost over and I'm almost done. I am very ready to see my family and friends again, but I have to admit, I've started looking at the north bound roads as more than just un-needed detours and more as potential roads to take me to other states I have not run.

Maybe this won't be my only long run after all...

Physically, I'm fine. At the end of the day I'm hungry, but still feel fresh. Mentally, I'm ready for a break where I can see some of the familiar faces I miss.


-- Patrick

Prank

Today I was running 30 miles from Columbus to Buena Vista, Ga. John Teeples also joined me for the entire day and it was great to have the company. My other friend Dave Snipes was on his way down from Virginia to run the next week with me so I was planning on meeting him at the place I'm staying tonight.

We were about 3/4 of a mile from the end of the day and a police car comes up behind us and turns on the siren asking us to pull over. He gets out of the car and asks for ID. I yank mine out of my bag but John hadn't brought any with him.

The officer starts telling us that he got complaints about two runners littering all over the highway. I showed him my trash bag. He said they were bottles that we were accused of littering.

I showed him that we were using bottles of our own and camelbacks. He goes on and on just giving us a really hard time. Then a car pulls up behind him and Dave jumps out.

He put the cop up to it and they got me good.

-- Patrick

Two weeks

If you haven't noticed yet, my count down is really starting to take over my blog.

I'm in Georgia now. I crossed into this state today and that also means I'm back on eastern time. Sort of feels a bit like home already.

Today's run was a nightmare. Traffic was insane and so were the drivers. Ever played chicken with a semi? I'll give you a hint: they win. I had to duck into a driveway, wait for a break in the traffic, and then sprint. The good news is I got some speed work in.

Tomorrow is a day off.

Two weeks.

-- Patrick

The day I lost my mind.

First things first. Check out this website and post some love for arthritis research!

http://www.startingwitharthritis.org.uk/

There is a guy on there, Phil Packer who is doing all he can for help out. He broke his spinal cord on duty and now is doing a marathon to raise money. Pretty ispiring stuff. Check it.

Today it rained. And in case you were looking for a nomination for the underestimation of the century, well, that was it. To say, "it rained" is like saying that Adam Sandler movies are "good." Let's face it, they are awesome.

I ran for 3 and a half hours. And 99% of that time was spent underwater. I probably would've stayed drier if I had put a treadmill in the shower and turned the nozzle to the insano fire hose pump your brains full of high quality h2o setting and gone for a little jog in there.

It was somewhere between Tuskegee and Marvyn that it happened. I was running up a hill and there was a river of ankle deep water going the opposite way that was covering my feet. In between coming up for air, the 6 foot high tsunamis that dump trucks, logging trucks and other various semis tossed my way, and the large caliber bullet-sized drops that so graciously allowed my view to not exceed 20 feet in front of the jogger, I started laughing.

It started out a creepy laugh, and turned into a great bellowing laugh that quite frankly, I didnt know I had in me. Amidst the water world that the day had become, the flashes of lightning and the stomach churning claps of thunder, I was having a blast. Physically, I felt great and was running smoothly and comfortably at a pace that far exceeded my norm. Mentally, it was the most fun I had in quite awhile. Should I have been outside holding a metal stroller during a thunder storm? Probably not, but don't tell my mom...

15 days...

-- Patrick

Tough.

Today I ran for the miners. Keep them in your thoughts.

I started today with a breakfast with the team leaders for the Arthritis Foundation's walk in Alabama. The walk is May 7th at the Montgomery Zoo. Check it out. I talked to them about the run and it went well.

From there, Mr. Hemphill drove me to my starting point for the day.

Today was cooler but had 97% humidity. I was sluggish all day and quite honestly, didn't feel much like running. After awhile I saw the end of today's run, and another 27 miles are in the bank.

After the run, I met Congressman Mike Rogers and was able to talk to him for awhile.

In case you didn't know, brown sugar and soy sauce on salmon is an excellent choice. Just thought I'd throw it out there. I had it last night. Awesome.

16 days.

-- Patrick

Run. Talk. Meet. See. Runn

Well, the title sums it up. Today started nice and early to squeeze in as many miles as I could before 10 am. I fit 17 in and then was picked up by Mrs. Hemphill, a local Arthritis Foundation worker and my host for last night and tonight.

First stop of the day was to meet the people over at the Montgomery baseball team, the Biscuits. I don't know about you, but I love that name. I didn't meet any players, but the people in the office were very nice and even gave me a shirt! Even better, it was a running shirt so I can wear it instead of sending it home! Woo hoo!

Next stop was at the local NBC station for a tv interview. A little girl, Meredith, joined me for the interview. She has arthritis, but that is not what gets your attention when you meet her. She is incredibly well spoken and intelligent. It's like talking to an adult in a pint sized person. I'm really glad she shared the stage with me because she was much more comfortable up there than I was. Be on the lookout for her someday when she has her own talk show. Maybe I'll be a guest...

Onward. We went to Chris' Hotdogs for lunch. This local eatery has been around since 1917. A gajilliom famous people have eaten there and I can see why. The dogs came fully slathered in slaw, cabbage, or saurkraut. I couldn't decide exactly what was on it but it also had a killer sauce. I had to eat it semi quickly because I worried if I ate too slowly the bun might get so soggy I'd need a spoon. Yea. It was THAT good.



We had some time in between engagements so we saw some of the local sights. We went to the capital, saw the Civil Rights museum, the church Martin Luther Kings preached at, and the Rosa Parks museum. We didn't go into the museums but we saw them, so it counts.


MLK's church

From there we went and met the mayor of Montgomery's assistant at city hall. He was very nice. I did two radio interviews after that.

I was wiped. So much talking and I still had 10 more miles to run. The rough part was that it was now 3:30 and the heat of the day had caught up with me. I'm not sure exactly how hot it was but Mrs. Hemphill's car said it was 92. Hottest day of the trip so far.

I finished out the miles and called it a day.

Tomorrow is another busy day and another toasty one as well.

I'm going to be keeping a counter of the days left from now on.
17 days left.

-- Patrick

Busy. Busy.

Today started with a 26 mile run. That was just the start. I met up with the Crowes and Mrs. Ducker. They drove me to the YMCA where they let me take a shower and get un-smelly because it was toasty today and very humid, so I was sweating up a storm.

From there we went to Pine Level Elementary School. I spoke with 450 kids!!! They were great and asked some funny questions... "Do I use the bathroom?" That might have been my favorite.

From there we went to the mayors office. I was given a proclamation saying that today was Patrick McGlade Day. He said it meant that I could do whatever I wanted. Speed, rob a bank, or jaywalk. I wanted to take him up on the jaywalking offer but had no reason to cross the street.

The next and lat stop of the day was dinner at Ryan's. Luckily, it was a buffet. I enjoyed visiting with the families that came out for dinner.

Tomorrow is another VERY busy day.

18 days left.

-- Patrick

Family

Today started with a 27 mile run and ended 200 miles away. I'm staying with my uncle and aunt in Huntsville which is 200 miles from where I ended today.

I met up with my aunt today about 8 miles from my finishing point and putnmy stroller in her car. Running without the stroller was like running without shackles. It was very freeing and I felt fast once again.

I was cruising down highway 14 around Selma and I see a group of people up ahead. I got closer and realized it was the Watsons who I had stayed with last week! They were heading to their family's house for Easter weekend. It was great to see them.

The rest of the day was spent with my cousins and family. Good times.


-- Patrick

Car crash

Today started out like any other day. Little did I know, my trip would take a drastic turn and head down a road I never saw coming.

I was seeing the countryside at my standard 6 miles an hour and turned it on auto pilot. The old legs were churning out the miles with no effort at all. I was completely oblivious to the actual happenings around me, not that there was an overwelming amount of activity. The only thing that seemed to matter was the weather. It was another perfect day. High of 83 and clouds hadn't graced me with their presence the entire day.

I was humming along a particularly straight section of road when I heard a logging truck coming up behind me. This is very common as they travel quite frequently on every road I happen to be on. I ignored the sound because I run into traffic and knew he would be at least 15 feet to my right.

As the truck got closer I glanced back and noticed a car in front of him. I paid no attention to this very minor detail because it simply didn't concern me.

Closer still, I heard the truck's engine slow as I assumed he was approaching the car in front of him. Then I heard the engine roar to life as the driver pushed the accelorator to the floor. I glanced back out of curiosity and notice him changing lanes to pass the car in front of him. I moved closer to the 2 inch area they call a shoulder but couldn't move off the road because of the large ditch just to my left. I glanced back one more time to see the truck 5 feet directly behind me. I did all I could to and jumped.

The front of the truck hit me straight on and immediatly I was pinned between the grill of the monster and the handlebars of the jogging stroller I've been pushing. The stroller was accelorated to the same speed as the truck and was now the only thing keeping me from becoming roadkill. I pushed the jogger forward just enough to sit atop the handlebars and essentially surf on the stroller in a lame attempt to get the driver's attention. Of course, that didn't work. I simply was not tall enough.

I knew that jumping off my life line would result in certain injury, but how long could I really ride a fully packed stroller?

I recalled a specific Bond movie and decided my best bet would be to climb on the underside of the truck and pull myself up at the driver's window. It was my only shot...

As I began my scramble I was being sprayed with rocks, twigs, and other various roadkill and wondered if that would soon be me. After what seemed like an eternity of climbing hot metal, I made it to the cockpit of the bozo who initially hit me. He slammed on the brakes when I popped my head up at his window. I wasn't expecting it so I was thrown forward and barely grabbed onto the side mirror in time.

He climbed down from his truck ad started yelling at me and I explained what happend. He felt so bad, he offered me a ride. I then explained what I was supposed to be doing. He then offered to drive me all the way to Tybee Island. Unfortunately, I couldn't resist.

I'm writing this on the beach of Tybee Island. It's nice here. Sorry if I disappointed anyone.

...April fools.

-- Patrick

Sunny with a chance of pie

Sunny in the mid 70s without a cloud in sight. A great day for running. I got several ride offers but today, unlike when it was raining or snowing, it was easy to turn the offers down.

When I got into Greensboro, I walked through the town and there it was. A shop of pies. PIES!! It wasn't my choice. I had to try it.

My first slice was pear and blackberry. Immaculate. It was so good, I had to try another. I HAD to. One kind of pie was calling my name. Peanut butter, honey and banana. I said to myself, "That pie will be mine. Oh yes, that pie, will be mine."

I made it mine. I probably would've paid a bajillion dollars for it. It was that good.

Bottom line: if you find youself walking the streets of Greensboro, go to the pie shop.

You will not be disappointed.


-- Patrick


-- Patrick