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A series of feature stories appearing from time to time about things on the periphery of the sports scope

Monday, March 31, 2003

By Dan Gigler, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Some of the frequent criticisms of the Names & Games page is that it's nothing more than bad comedy and doesn't fit in with a newspaper of high journalistic integrity.

So, in an effort to appease critics and continue to amuse and interest readers, we introduce "On the Fringe," a series of feature stories appearing from time to time about things on the periphery of the sports scope. For example, two college buddies jogging across America, a pair of brothers deeply involved in national toughman competitions, a researcher studying the psychological effects of being a fair-weather fan ... you get the idea.

We hope you like it. And if you have any ideas, send them to names@post-gazette.com.

To run the 3,281 miles of American highways that connect Sea Bright, New Jersey, and Florence, Oregon, Scott Sehon and Dave Bronfenbrenner estimate that they will take 5,663,680 strides.

It's 5,663,680 steps away from the white-collar, button-down lives they were leading just a few short months ago.

Sehon, 25, a Mt. Lebanon native, and Bronfenbrenner, 24, of Allentown, are in the midst of a five-month journey that will take them by foot from the sands of the Atlantic Ocean to the rocky shores of the Oregon Coast. They departed with their feet literally in the Atlantic Ocean's icy waters on Feb. 24 and crossed into eastern Indiana yesterday and past the 700-mile mark of their trip.

They are Kate Moss thin, have budding beards and hair that is getting long enough that it tucks nicely behind their American flag do-rags. They do not intend to shave or cut their hair until they reach Oregon, inviting inevitable comparisons to Forrest Gump.

They've pledged to drink a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 for every empty bottle of the cheap wine they see on the roadway while running (they each owe one thus far). They push a baby jogger that holds their gear because after five days with 14-pound backpacks, Sehon says, "Our knees were getting creamed."

If you saw them running in your direction, you might be inclined to think they were a couple of patriotic methamphetamine addicts who had just kidnapped a child.

Bucknell buddies

To make such a demanding journey, one must have certain attributes, the first of which is a solid running resume. The second is to have an abundance of loose screws. Sehon and Bronfenbrenner are blessed with both.

Sehon, a 1996 graduate and standout runner at Mt. Lebanon High School, and Bronfenbrenner met in college as members of Bucknell University's track and cross country teams.

Scott Sehon on the left and Dave Bronfenbrenner is on the right.

Sehon's first competitive race sprang out of a bet with his older sister Kate, who made a wager that he couldn't finish the 1992 Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race. He did the 10-kilometer distance in a time of 45 minutes, 45 seconds. Though his first loves were baseball and basketball, he admitted that he spent most of his time, "picking splinters out of his butt from riding the pine."

It wasn't until a basketball coach insisted that he run cross country that he took up the sport as a sophomore at Mt. Lebanon. After that, he was hooked.

At Bucknell, his career was a series of ups and downs because of various injuries, but he was consistently among the top-five finishers on the cross country team and specialized in the 5k indoor and 10k in track.

Bronfenbrenner, an all-conference runner at Bucknell, won the 2003 Las Vegas marathon in February. Not bad for a guy who, according to Bucknell assistant track and cross country coach Joe Klim, "wasn't much of a distance runner," when he started college.

"He was probably at the bottom of the list as a freshman, but made awesome improvements over four years," Klim said.

Klim arrived at Bucknell the same year that Sehon and Bronfenbrenner enrolled as freshmen and knows them well enough to know that they both possess the second key trait: lack of sanity.

"They're both a couple of nut cases," Klim said. "This does not surprise me at all."

When he first heard that they were seriously going to go through with their plan, Klim's first words to them were, "You guys are nuts."

Early plan

Like many ideas that are big on talk but low on follow-through, this one came about during the idle hours of a cross country automobile trip. After their freshman year of college, Sehon, Bronfenbrenner and two other Bucknell buds piled into a Pathfinder and with no agenda, just a list of places to see, spent 17 glorious days crisscrossing America.

Somewhere along the way, Sehon said, a plan was hatched to combine their common love of running and travel -- why not run across the country

The idea simmered on the back burner throughout college, on the level of those 'when I hit the Powerball jackpot ...' daydreams that we all have.

After graduating from Bucknell in May 2000, Sehon took a job as an underwriter for General Cologne Reinsurance in Philadelphia; Bronfenbrenner as a chemical engineer for Dial Soap in Hazelton, Pa. Their immediate goal after graduation wasn't "The Run," but rather outrunning the debt they had accrued.

After 26 months, that day did come, clearing their debt for "The Run."

Course of action

Beginning in March 2001, Sehon and Bronfenbrenner had plotted possible routes in a Rand McNally road atlas. Their primary concerns were climate and terrain. The notoriously muggy weather of the southern United States was to be avoided, as were arid and desolate desert regions.

"You can easily go 100 miles in the desert and not get to a town," Sehon said.

Though it's illegal to run on Interstate highways, Bronfenbrenner said they settled on a northerly route, which follows along Interstate 80 fairly closely, and provides for an ample number of small-town stops.

"Our goal was to hit civilization at least every other day," Sehon said.

They figured they could average about 20 miles a day so they would need about five months for the trip.

Sehon and Bronfenbrenner aren't the first two chaps in the world to try this, so naturally they enlisted the help of those who had done it before, right? Wrong.

"There have been about five or six books written on the subject and I actually made a point not to read them," Sehon said. "I'll read all of them when we're done, just to see what was different or the same. But most of them did it with a Winnebago or something driving behind them. We don't have any on-site help."

They are prepared to camp out if necessary, but haven't, yet. Their Web site is www.runtheusa.com. Friends and family have spread sufficient word of mouth about their journey, and have lined up places for them to stay with acquaintances and perfect strangers.

The running community also has anted up, and the duo frequently has bedded down on the dorm room floors of collegiate cross country and track teams.

Since they aren't spending any money on lodging and only packed one change of clothes, they've whittled their per diem budget for the trip to about $30, with their single biggest expense being shoes. Minus the shoes, it's really about $6 per day. They plan to change shoes every 500 miles.

Their quest has garnered media attention across the United States and globally, including the Netherlands, Australia, Iceland, Brazil and India. Despite offers from Adidas and Boathouse Sports, they have declined any kind of formal sponsorship

The one concession they did make, was to allow a documentary crew to follow them around as they prepared, and they will allow the crew to meet up with them periodically along the way. They were also given a digital camcorder to record moments on the trip.

Sehon and Bronfenbrenner still are trying to line up lodging for large parts of Missouri, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon. If you think you can help, log on to their Web site at www.runtheusa.com to find out how.