Pete Kostelnick celebrated his 29th birthday in a memorable way: He left San Francisco’s City Hall on September 12 at 8 am and headed east for 3,067 miles, completing the trek from coast to coast in 42 days, 6 hours, and 30 minutes. Aided by a four-person crew, he averaged more than 72 miles a day.
On October 24, 2016, Pete Kostelnick broke the 36-year world record for fastest run across America from San Francisco City Hall to New York City Hall. The previous record of 46 days 8 hr 36 min was set by Frank Giannino Jr in 1980. Many have tried to break this record, but none have succeeded in doing so.
The Guinness World Record requires that the starting and ending cities must be coastal and differ in location by at least that of New York City Hall to Los Angeles City Hall. Pete’s route not only accomplished that, but it is in the spirit of the same two cities as Frank Giannino’s run from San Francisco to New York City almost exactly 36 years prior.
In order to run an average of 72+ miles a day—for 42 days—in a Guinness World-Record-setting attempt to cross America on foot, ultra-athlete Pete Kostelnick rose between 3 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. To help him achieve his goal, the four members of his support team who accompanied Pete in an RV, awoke at the same time. Together they studied the day’s route and weather, making any last minute changes then assemble the appropriate clothing, nutrition and hydration suitable for the miles ahead.
100 Mile Club was the official charity of Pete’s Feet Across America, engaging and empowering kids and families to achieve a healthy lifestyle through physical activity nationwide; preventing childhood inactivity and obesity, one child, one school, and one community at a time. People could join the fun by signing up for a virtual run and adding an addition $10 to sponsor a child to run or walk 100 miles in one school year.
Pete Kostelnick
He started running to lose weight, then wanted to impress his girlfriend.After getting burnt out on road marathons Pete started to dream big. Pete is the 5th fastest North American, all-time, at the 24-hour run, covering 163.5 miles (an average pace of 8:48 per mile).He is a two time Badwater Ultramarathon champion and became the current Badwater course record holder in 2016, the same year he broke the record for fastest run across America, that had been standing for 36 years. He covered 3067 miles from San Francisco to New York in 42 days, 6 hours and 30 minutes, a...