Core Team Selected to Run 3,000 Miles Across the USA

PALM DESERT, Calif. - Oct. 29, 2013 - PRLog -- Palm Desert, CA - According to the CDC, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. At the present time, 18% (or almost one in five) children, aged 6-19 in the United States, are obese. Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults and are therefore more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer and osteoarthritis.

Inspired by the 1992 Olympics, special education teacher Kara Lubin used the dream of becoming a gold medalist to inspire her hard-to-motivate students. Soon after, the 100 Mile Club® was born from a simple idea, run 100 miles and earn a medal. Incentives, including a unique milestone t-shirt, are given along the way. In addition, lessons in goal setting, determination and team spirit are delivered alongside exercise. The 100 Mile Club® is now in over 600 schools in all 50 states (October 2013). In fact, since last year, this dynamic organization went international, adding schools in Canada, Japan and New Zealand.

The goals for the Race Across USA are four fold:


* Raise awareness about the “inactivity” epidemic in young people

* Raise funds to sponsor students who cannot afford the cost of the 100 Mile Club®

* Visit schools along the route with the hope of starting new clubs

* Allow runners to safely explore their perceived physical and mental limitations and share that experience with kids and schools along the route


The Race Across USA will start in California and end in Maryland, covering a total of 13 states (CA, AZ, NM, TX, LA, AR, MS, AL, GA, SC, NC, VA, MD) plus Washington DC. Ten athletes will run the entire width of the United States. In addition, a limited number of others may sign up to run across a state. The total distance of the route from coast to coast is approximately 3,000 miles. The entire journey will take 140 days to run. Rest days have been added so that runners can visit schools along the way. One Day 2, the runners will stop briefly at the headquarters of the 100 Mile Club® in Norco, CA. On Day 139, the runners will also stop at the White House in Washington DC to show their appreciation for the First Lady’s support of this important issue. The event is scheduled to begin on January 16, 2015.

The current core team includes the following runners: Jup Brown (New Zealand), Bryce Carlson (Indiana, USA), Vanessa Kline (California, USA), Jim Lincoln (Colorado, USA), Linda Mazenko (California, USA), Yukimitsu Taguchi (Japan), Stacy Trosine (Washington, USA) and Darren Van Soye (California, USA).