Run, Rob, Run! Man Recreating Forrest Gump Run Makes Stop In Philly
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- He started in Mobile, Alabama, made it to California, and turned around heading for Maine.
A runner from Liverpool is living the dream, and raising awareness for environmental conservation through an epic, movie-worthy run from coast to coast and back again.
Today, he made a stop in Philadelphia.
His name is Rob Pope. He is an emergency veterinarian from across the pond, and today he is on a mission.
"You know, everybody's had people shout 'Run Forrest Run'...I just thought, if I could do that run."
He's recreating the run done by Forrest Gump in the 1994 film.
As it turns out, no one has ever completed the entire thing.
"I wanted to run across America for a long time. When I was planning and thinking, sort of, how I could raise as much awareness and as much money for my two charities, which are the World Wildlife Fund and Peace Direct."
Friday morning, Pope made it to Philadelphia, eager to tackle the Art Museum steps, but construction for the NFL Draft got in the way.
"I wanted to run up those steps and raise my hands at the top of them, but all to no avail. But to be honest, maybe it's just another excuse to come back to the City of Brotherly Love, isn't it?"
The distance he's covered is enormous. America is more than 100 marathons wide.
And believe it or not, he's planning to run the Boston Marathon in just a couple of days.
"I don't think I'm going to come top ten...the big boys don't have anything to worry about there."
You can follow along with Pope's journey on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
He's already back on the road, running another 30 miles towards Morristown.
Following the wind, and a GPS tracker.
