Coast to Coast for a Cure – An Idea to Inspire Change

Our names are Rob Bonora and Anthony Greco and in May of 2010,  we both graduated from college. Before we made the transition into our professional careers, we devoted a few months of our lives to charity by walking coast to coast across America. This marathon was endured by just the two of us, as we decided to have no trail car or support of any kind. When we first decided to do this, most people thought we were absolutely insane. However, we were not just walking for the fun of it.

Growing up, there might have been times where we didn’t fully appreciate what a blessing it is to be in good health and we wanted to give back to those who haven’t been as fortunate. The purpose of our walk was to stress the importance of a healthy lifestyle and raise money for the Gail’s Angels Foundation, Derek’s Dreams, and St. Jude  Children’s Hospital.

It started out as a ridiculous idea. Anthony Greco and I were pondering about our future. As we were sitting in my room discussing college graduation, the idea that of walking coast to coast across the United States popped into our heads. We really can’t pinpoint the source of the idea but we just went with it. Instead of falling into oblivion like most weightless thoughts, this one had legs. A switch flipped and we turned our idea into a reality.

Three months later after little preparation and even less training, we flew out to San Diego, CA on May 30, 2010.  On June 1, we began our coast to coast walk back to our hometown of Nutley, NJ. Passing through hundreds of communities in a total of 12 states (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey), our goal was to inspire others as we encouraged them to walk with us through their hometowns. Rates of obesity in America, especially among children, have grown at an alarming rate over the past 20 years. We wanted to see people become more active, eat healthier, and just have more respect for their bodies.

Coast to Coast for a Cure – Reality Sets In

Walking between 20-30 miles per day we knew there would be boredom and fatigue. We also knew it was going to be hot, but didn’t plan on walking through the hottest summer on record. At times, our socks were so soaked with sweat it that it felt as if we were stepping in puddles. We knew it would get painful but after the first day, within the first 3 hours of walking, the discomfort set in. By the end of the day we had to pop and treat blisters all over our feet. They were so painful that we were forced to walk on the sides of our feet, which led to many joint problems of our knees, ankles, and hips.

Luckily for us, we had the full support of our families who constantly were checking on us and even flew out a couple of times to lend us moral support. But perhaps the biggest surprise was the help we got from complete strangers. Whether it was someone pulling over to the side of the road to hand us 10 dollars or a woman pulling us in during a rainstorm to keep dry us and make us coffee. We couldn’t thank these people enough and it really restored our faith in humanity.

Coast to Coast for a Cure – 127 Days Later

The journey was just shy of 3,000 miles and we arrived back to Nutley, NJ on October 7, 2010.  In the end we had an experience we will never forget. All of the trials and tribulations were completely worth it and we could not be happier with our decision to do it. The culmination of our final day where over 1,500 people joined to show their support will go down as one of the greatest days of our lives. In the end, we had successfully made the coast to coast journey and became better people for it. More importantly, we were able to raise $75,000 for great causes which was the icing on the cake.

 

We hope to have our book published within the next year. Feel free to read our blog which tells the complete story of our coast to coast walk across America , take care and God Bless.