Man recreates ‘Forrest Gump’ run for charities
A man running cross-country — so far the distance of about 100 marathons — decided to stop in Las Vegas to catch his breath Thursday.
He might look a little familiar to some movie buffs.
Rob Pope, 38, is the same age actor Tom Hanks was when the 1994 Academy Award-winning film, “Forrest Gump,” hit the big screen. That part is a coincidence, but Pope’s Bubba Gump Shrimp hat, old school Gump-inspired Nikes and cross-country route are not.
“I just felt like running,” Pope said, echoing a famous line from the movie.
Pope said he covers about 33 miles per day running the same roads Gump did in the film to bring awareness to two charities: the World Wildlife Fund and Peace Direct.
He’s also in it for the culture and sights.
“I just wanted to visit the iconic locations and obviously see a lot of America that nobody would get to see normally, you know, at a slower pace,” he said.
Pope is no stranger to long distance running. He won the marathon hosted in his hometown of Liverpool, England, the past two years. In 2015, he also won the Australian Marathon Championships.
He started his run in Mobile, Alabama, on Sept. 15 and headed west until he hit Santa Monica Pier on the California coast. He turned around and stopped through Las Vegas on his way to the Marshall Point Lighthouse in Maine.
Pope said he spent his house deposit on the first leg of his trip and recently set up a GoFundMe page to fund his trip back to the Atlantic. He’s also holding out for a corporate sponsor to help with expenses.
As long as he doesn’t get hurt or bored, Pope plans to clock more than 15,000 miles and traverse the United States almost four times. He said he hopes to finish his travels by spring 2018.
To keep up with Pope’s location, you can check out his website or follow his Twitter account.
Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.