Rob Pope is the first person ever to run across America four times in one year!
“My mom inspired me to do something special. She’s not with us anymore but she said: Do one thing in your life that makes a difference.
It’s quite vague, you’re not really sure what that’s going to be and you go through your life and you think Is this my difference?”
Rob Pope is an emergency veterinarian by night and runner by day.
No beginner marathon runner, Rob became the Australian Marathon Champion at the Australian Marathon Championships in 2015, won the Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in 2015 and 2016, where he ran a personal best of 2:27:13.
He also now holds a Guinness World Records for the fastest marathon completed while dressed as a film character.
Running America had been on his mind for years and then he heard that no-one ever really had run Forest Gump’s route from A to Z.
Rob ran 15000 miles across America to raise both funds and awareness for the World Wildlife Fund and Peace Direct. Along the way he had the hardest and greatest moments, including successfully proposing to his wife after almost losing the wedding ring, and becoming a proud father.
THE USA FORREST GUMP JOURNEY
Rob first ran from Mobile, Alabama all the way to Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, California. He then turned around and ran even further back across some 18 states to the Marshall Point Lighthouse in Maine. When he got there, he turned around and kept on running! He then became the first person ever to run across the United States of America THREE TIMES in a year since completing his third crossing in September 2017.
Rob ran over 15,700 miles, finishing the FIFTH leg of his run in Monument Valley, where he became the first person EVER to complete the run that Forrest Gump did in the film.
It’s a huge distance, the greatest distance anyone from the UK has ever run in a year.
“The hard work is only just beginning though. The run was a means to bring awareness to the state of our planet and of those living in conflict. This is now my real run.
Please keep the donations coming in for the charities the World Wildlife Fund and Peace Direct – and every little bit helps.”