A 450-Mile Run Non-Stop Run For Marathon Victims

Fumich and Nelson’s route. Photo via Google Maps

Running a marathon is hard. Now imagine running 450 miles over the course of five days. Crazy, maybe, but it’s exactly what Frank Fumich and Matt Nelson, two elite athletes who regularly run obscenely long distances and are part of Endurance Trust, a charity organization for endurance athletes, are planning to do to raise money for the Boston Marathon victims.

Fumich and Nelson will run non-stop from the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. all the way to the finish line of the Boston Marathon, alternating marathons so that while one runs, one rests. “[I] realized how easily it could have been my family waiting for me to cross the finish line,” Fumich says, “and so I just wanted to do something to help.”

Fumich says that starting at the Pentagon only strengthens the message. “Starting at the Pentagon Memorial also ties in this tragedy, and what seems to be its root cause, to other attacks against us and our way of life as Americans,” he says. “It’s a symbolic starting point.”

The two have already far surpassed their original fundraising goal of $26,200, and have now bumped the goal up to $78,600—the amount Fumich raised in a previous 78.6-mile run, which works out to one marathon for each person killed in the blasts. And while Fumich says raising money is the most obvious goal of the run, he explains that it’s also about showing support for the victims. “We want to show the victims what total strangers are willing to do, and what lengths we will run for them,” he says.

So how exactly do you train for a 450-mile run? You don’t, Fumich says. “This will be by far the longest distance I’ve ever run in this many days,” he says. “We’ll just have to keep thinking about why we’re doing it and who we’re helping to keep us moving forward.”

Fumich and Nelson will start their run at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, May 28 and aim to be finished by June 1. If you’re interested in tracking their progress, donating, or learning more, visit their website at standunitedrununited.org.

Fumich and Nelson before a run. Photo provided