At 57, Bob Alessio is putting his athletic ability to the test. On
April 23, Alessio set out on a 5,450-mile Run Across America for Enduring
Freedom, paying tribute to the victims and families, emergency response
workers, service organizations and members of armed service organizations
involved after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“My original plan was to make this a personal athletic challenge,
with me running the shortest route between San Francisco and Boston,”
Alessio said. “After the terrorist attacks, my feelings of patriotism
expanded my objectives and my plans.”
Alessio can now be seen carrying a flag as he runs through such venues
as Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, and all the service academies.
“To my knowledge, my run will be the longest continuous, and
the first patriotic, run across America in history,” he said.
Alessio runs an average of 24-27 miles a day broken down into a morning
and afternoon run. He also takes a rest stop every 10 days. Saturday
afternoon was his rest day in Greenville.
The retired sales and marketing executive with Digital Equipment Corp.
and Compaq Computer Corp. resides with his wife, Marge, in Stowe,
Mass.
“Usually my wife or one of my children will accompany me on my
route in the RV, but for this leg, I’m by myself.” he said.
Alessio says he drives his camper ahead 12 miles and a member of the
sheriff’s department from the county he’s running through
will drop him back off at his starting point.
Alessio notes one of his most interesting moments was running across
the Mississippi River Bridge en route from Arkansas to Greenville.
“The wind was really blowing, and the trucks were passing close,
but I wasn’t scared,” he said. “I was just really thrilled
to be crossing a river I had heard so much about.”
Any contributions generated by Alessio’s run go to “The
Brain Center,” an information center which provides research
and education in neurological and psychiatric diseases, located in
New Seabury, Mass.
To follow Bob Alessio’s journey, log onto his Web site at www.runacrossamerica.com
or e-mail AlessioBob@aol.com. The e-mail is checked weekly.
