imaRunner: Warren and Tom Knoll

RW Sept 2008 issue featured a father-son pair who ran across the US, covering 3,330 miles from San Diego to Washington DC, over 112 days. Tom (75) is a veteran ex-Marine who has tallied up over 75,000 miles from 185 marathons and ultras, 9 250-mile and runs and a cross country trek. Warren (44) runs a publishing company in Wisconsin and has to his credit 53 marathons and 9 Ironmans.

Each day, Tom started at 5 am and Warren started an hour later (due to differences in pace), covering 30 miles. A day rest every 10 days. They were joined by Marines and other recreational runners along the way. The cross country feat raised funds for wounded veterans.

A fall on the very first day came back to haunt Tom 61 days later when he realized that he couldn't see well out of his right eve. That was a side effect from the fall - cataracts. But Tom pressed on, refusing surgery.

A fellow runner noted: "By the end of the day, Warren was withered by the sun, and Tom didn't look so great. But they got up the next day to do it again. All I can say is, wow."

As an aside, the fastest run across the United States was by Frank Gianno Jr - 46 days, 8 hours and 36 minutes - back in 1980!

imaRunner is a series about ordinary people and their not-so-ordinary running achievements.