Some 179 miles into a long, long journey, a bone tired, overheated man takes a late afternoon breather under the porch of the north end Top Food and Drugs, his sweat-stained back to a pillar, his left ankle throbbing.
On a good day, says 25-year-old Greg Hamblock, pushing the cart with the things he needs inside from bear spray to a change of clothes, from a First Aid Kit to crackers to bug spray and a tent, he walk-runs about 30 miles. On not-so-good days, when the body screams, maybe he’ll make 20 miles.
“Legs aren’t built to run on concrete,” Hamblock concedes, looking at his ankle. “But I’ve read about other people who’ve done this. Injuries are typical. Just don’t push yourself too hard. It’s running and walking, not just running.”
The Butte, Mont., native, a recent Seattle resident, began the cross country run June 22 on the Olympic Peninsula. From here, sore ankle or not, he’ll push past Mount Rainier toward Yakima, Salt Lake City, Denver, Dallas, down through the Gulf States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, toward a small town called Homestead, Fla., where in late October his trek will end.
Hamblock is running for the sake of a couple of kids, Christopher Bonds, 5, and his little sister, Megan, in Baton Rouge, La. He’s running to raise tuition money for the youngsters who stole his heart when he was volunteering in a homeless shelter in Baton Rouge two years back.
“At the end of the day, Chris’ mom came up to me and said, ‘Chris doesn’t have any positive male influences in his life, and when you come back next, maybe you can just hang out with him.’ So I’ve been developing a big brother-little brother relationship with him, but also a relationship with the rest of the family,” Hamblock said.
Baton Rouge’s public school system is overburdened, Hamblock explained, especially the middle and high schools, which are rife with drugs and sick with violence. Last year he realized he wanted to help Chris and Megan attend private schools and have a good shot at life away from all that. Last April he sat down with the Bonds family, helped them pick a school, then pondered the bigger question: how was he going to raise the $60,000 estimated cost for five years of tuition?
Inspired by the example of the late Terry Fox, who more than 30 years ago ran 3,000 miles across Canada to raise money for cancer research, Hamblock decided to do a bit of running himself. In January, he began training. He has since formed a not-for-profit called “Perspiration for Chris and Megan’s Education.” As of this writing, he has raised $1,480 toward his cause.
Hamblock is using his own savings to pay for his necessaries. Although his own family thinks he’s a bit crazy to do this running-across-the-country thing, it is also helping him cover his personal expenses.
Those who want to help Hamblock’s cause may go to the website, Indiegogo.com/perspiration4education, where they’ll find a video that tells the story of the Bonds children, with a link to Twitter, Hamblock’s Facebook page, and an option to donate.
“If this story moves anybody, I hope they would consider donating whatever they can can give, without inconveniencing themselves,” Hamblock said. “Everybody I have met so far has been really encouraging.”
