People often asked me when I completed the run if I was ever going to lace up a pair of running shoes again. I’ll be honest, the first couple of weeks after the journey was complete, I had no desire to go running. I knew that I needed to allow my body to rejuvenate and recover from the pounding of running nearly 3,500 miles.
It was interesting, too, to see how my body responded to not being on the routine I strictly followed the previous 100 days. The first few days at home my body was all out of sorts. My metabolism was still through the roof, so even though I wasn’t running, my body was basically acting as a furnace consuming itself, burning through calories faster than I could consume them. During the run, I knew I had to increase my caloric intake to keep from getting weak. I only lost 17 pounds during the run, and five of those were extra pounds I intentionally packed on prior to the run so my body would have extra fat to burn through in the beginning of the run. Yet after five days back home, because my caloric intake had returned to normal, I lost five more pounds, getting down to 158 pounds after starting the run at 180. I doubt any diet pill on the market could have worked as well at increasing my metabolism as running across the country did.
I had a friend tell me to get some rest and get back to a normal routine, but I couldn’t figure out what “normal” was. When we left for Oregon, we left behind a “comfortable” life. When we returned, I wasn’t certain that was the type of life I wanted back. Much like a veteran returning home and attempting to enter the civilian world, I found it somewhat difficult to conform to my previous way of life. There was something unnerving about having a house to wander about when we were used to being confined to a small and efficient space.
My run across America changed my perspective on life, increased my passion for honoring and assisting veterans and fortunately provided me with the platform and opportunities to live out my desire. The primary reason I wanted to write a book about this journey and share the story in greater detail was because it is my hope that it will inspire others to dream big and accomplish something for a greater good. As someone who had never run more than 12 miles at a time less than three years earlier, I never thought I’d be able to run 3,452 miles across America in 100 days. But I dreamt big and accomplished my goal.
I’m dreaming even bigger now, and I can’t wait to see what can be accomplished down the road.
Jamie Summerlin and Matthew L. Brann
Jamie Summerlin is a Gulf War era veteran, having served in the United States Marine Corps for six years. Currently, he serves as the president of the board of directors of Operation Welcome Home in Morgantown, West Virginia, and is involved in other veteran-focused programs, such as CamoToCap. He is also an inspirational speaker for business and professional organizations, schools, veteran groups and the running community.
Summerlin’s passion for running began in 2009 while training for his first marathon. He has been hooked on ultramarathon running ever since. Though he has completed many challenging runs and races, one of his prides is a finisher’s medal from the Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run that he completed in July of 2011 in a time of 24 hours, 53 minutes. His love for pushing himself to great distances, as well as witnessing the phenomenal things that Operation Welcome Home and other veteran-focused organizations have done for veterans, inspired him to come up with the idea of running across America in order to raise funds and awareness for such organizations.
Summerlin’s “Freedom Run,” a 3,452-mile, 100-day endeavor that he completed in 2012, began in Coos Bay, Oregon, and ended in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and covered a total of 16 states and the District of Columbia, with the final 100 miles being completed in just less than 24 hours. He became the 48th person ever to complete a true coast-to-coast transcontinental run across America. His journey not only raised money for national and local organizations whose mission is to assist veterans, but it inspired communities and veterans alike to dream big and find ways to support the United States military and veterans.
His wife, Tiffany, a Marine Corps veteran herself, met Summerlin in Iwakuni, Japan, while stationed there together in 1995. They reside in Morgantown, West Virginia, with their two children, Nicholas and Shayna.
To learn about the latest progress of Summerlin’s mission to honor veterans or explore in even greater depth his “Freedom Run,” visit www.FreedomRunUSA.com.
Matthew L. Brann is the director of Fitness Information Technology (FiT) and the International Center for Performance Excellence in the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences at West Virginia University. Prior to his appointment as director, he served as the senior editor of FiT for eight years. A graduate of Purdue University with a degree in communication, he began his career as a sports journalist, working for daily newspapers in Illinois and Indiana. He later worked for a weekly sports magazine, covering Purdue athletics, and during that time was also a syndicated columnist for various newspapers in Indiana and a weekly guest on a local CBS affiliate’s weekend sports show. Brann has also served as a contributing writer for various regional and national magazines and websites.
After vowing to never run a marathon again upon completion of his first in Baltimore in 2004, Brann was inspired by Jamie Summerlin’s run across America and, along with his wife, Maria, ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2012. He and his wife reside in Morgantown, West Virginia, with their two children, Maverick and Makaleigh.
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