CONTACT INFORMATION:
Freedom Run Across America
Director of Communications
U.S. Multi-Sport Athletic Events, LTD
5317 S. Lake Drive
Cudahy, WI 53110
414.483.5412
414.483.5435 fax
info@USFreedomRun.com
www.USFreedomRun.com
For Immediate Release
** Freedom Run Across America starts March 1st, 2008**
The 2008 Freedom Run across America is dedicated to raising funds for the
Wounded Warrior Project, which assists wounded veterans and their families, the
Sunshine Foundation, which grants wishes to seriously ill and abused children, and the Challenged Athlete Foundation, which assists disabled athletes.
The run will be led by original 1978 Ironman Tom Knoll, now age 75, and his son, Warren, 44, who will both run 3,300 miles from coast to coast. Warren will also bike across the country, possibly marking the first time an individual has both run and biked cross-country in the same event. This will be Tom’s second cross-USA charity run. In 1983, Tom ran across the United States for the Sunshine Foundation in 64 days, averaging 46 miles per day.
The run will start at the San Diego, California Marine Corps Recruit Depot on March 1st, 2008 and finish at the Marine Corps Memorial in Washington, DC on July 4th, 2008. It will consist of 112 days of at least 30-mile runs.
Tom has completed 185 marathons and ultramarathons, some of which were 100 miles in length. In addition, he has completed nine 250-mile charity runs and one 500-mile charity run around the island of Okinawa for the Shriners and crippled children. He did a Labor Day 300-mile charity run in 3 days and 7 hours for Jerry Lewis and muscular dystrophy, raising over $25,000 in that one event.
Tom is well over the half-million dollar charity mark and expects to reach his lifetime goal of raising $1 million plus for charity with his 2008 cross-country run.
Tom spent 33 years in the Marine Corps, and is a Korea and Vietnam veteran. After 9/11, at the age of 70, he served in Afghanistan and Iraq for a government intelligence agency. Tom now teaches aboard Navy ships for Central Texas College and resides in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the author of the book, Why Not a Million?, which includes details on the conception of the Ironman Triathlon, the Okinawa and Jerry Lewis runs, and his 64-day USA run.
Warren has completed 40 marathons and is a second-generation Ironman, having completed Ironman triathlons in Wisconsin, Florida, St. Croix, and New Zealand. He is a writer for Triathlete Magazine.
In the 2008 Freedom Run, Tom and Warren will each run the 30-mile distance each day. Then Warren will be driven back to the day’s start and will bike the same distance.
Throughout the cross-USA run, runners, joggers, walkers, and wheelchair racers are encouraged to join in the run for whatever mileage they desire to do. Warren and Tom will do some public speaking on route to promote physical fitness among children, adults and senior citizens. They will also promote the March 2008 National Challenge of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.