BillLindau

North Carolina runner seeing the country the old-fashioned way: On foot

From Running Journal, October 2008
By Bill Lindau
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Doug Dawkins of Rockingham, N.C., loves the great outdoors, he loves to travel and he especially loves to run. Since mid-July, he has been doing it all, by running and walking across the United States.
He started out on the southeastern North Carolina coast on July 14 and his been traveling west ever since. Dawkins has gone through the tip of Virginia, into Tennessee by August, and hopes to continue all the way to California, ending this journey run in San Diego by early December.
Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Arizona are the other states on the route he planned.
Dawkins, 56, had been planning this cross-country trek for more than a year.
"I had hiked the Appalachian Trail and I wanted to try something similar to that," Dawkins said, in a phone interview from middle Tennessee, near Hartsville, on Aug. 17. "Plus, I had read a couple of books on journey runners."
Dawkins has been doing long-distance runs for more than half his life. The longer, the better, as far as he is concerned. Dawkins, a former postal clerk, took up running after he quit smoking. He started doing 5-K runs, and got into longer distances from then on, doing marathons and 50- and 100-mile ultras.
Dawkins is the founder and president of the Mangum Track Club of Richmond County. He served as race director for the Ellerbe Springs Marathon until this year, and he directs the Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50-mile ultra run and its marathon companion race.
In recent years, he made a yearly summer project of hiking the Appalachian Trail, doing portions of it each summer until he was through.
"This is a similar thing to hiking the Appalachian Trail, except on the trail, you meet a lot of hikers. I'm out here a lot by myself, and I meet different people in different places,” Dawkins said. “You move with the same hikers on the trail, but in this case you move with different people."
Don't expect any postcards from St. Louis or Denver. He mapped out his route to go through rural areas of the United States, instead of through large cities.
"I'd get to meet more people and see more sights," he said. "And there'd be less cars and less traffic.”
Dawkins has had a lot of people pulling for him, including his wife Merrie, his daughters Erin and Dana, a good number of friends and other members of the Mangum Track Club. Many of them kept him company as he made his way through the state, and even into the mountains.
Dawkins has been pretty much a lone eagle since passing out of North Carolina. But he still seems to find himself among friends, meeting a lot of people who admire what he’s doing and willing to help him out. That includes providing him with a roof over his head for the night.
"I'm pretty much on my own now," he said during an Aug. 17 conversation from middle Tennessee. "I have been for several days. Four nights, I'd been staying with people I've met along the way."
As of late August, Dawkins was averaging between 28 and 35 miles a day. He figures that pace should get him to the Mississippi River in 12 days, even with four days of rest.
On Aug. 17, he ran and walked from Gainesboro to a place 20 miles east of Hartsville, Tenn. Along the way, he met a local resident, got into a conversation with him, and found himself with a place to take a break.
“I’m taking today off at Charlie’s house,” he wrote in a journal on his Web site, www.dougsrun.wordpress.com. Dawkins has taken his cell phone with him, and he often uses the computers at local libraries to log his running commentary (pun intended).
“It is a restful place and I have the freedom to rest and relax,” he continued. “I slept until 7:30. Charlie had coffee ready and we spent much of the morning talking on his porch. It is the kind of conversation that can occur on journeys. We have known each other but a few hours but we now talk about my trip and share life stories.
“There is always a story with every person you meet when the time is taken to listen and they are willing to talk. I have enjoyed the morning and still have the afternoon and night to look forward to.”
Dawkins told me that day he was 12 miles away from crossing the Mississippi River. That included four days of rest, he said.
Since he began this journey, Dawkins has done a lot more camping.
He didn't take any camping gear along at first, but in short time decided he needed some for the occasional cold or rainy nights. So, when he's had access to a computer, he's ordered equipment online and had it shipped ahead of him.
He now has a tent to add to his load. He carried about 18 pounds on his run/walk.
"That's 14 pounds plus water."
Water is a variable, he says, depending on the temperature, the distance he puts in and the location of the small convenience stores from which he usually buys his food and other supplies.
"Sometimes I carry two liters, sometimes one...I’ve seen places where the stores are 15 miles apart."
At the time of this conversation, Doug said he has been satisfied with his progress. That's because he did not put down a lot of long-range plans. "I don't plan much further than a couple of days ahead."
Merrie, his cousin and his cousin's wife plan to meet him at the end of his run, when he comes to San Diego. Then it's home for Christmas.
Probably by flight, he says.
Dawkins began his trek at Sunset Beach, N.C., continued through Rockingham, N.C., then into Taylorsville.
By Aug. 1, it was “bye-bye, North Carolina.“ Dawkins crossed into Virginia that day, reaching the town of Glenn Cove by the end of the day.
About four days later, Dawkins was in Tennessee, stopping in Johnson City.
“Yesterday (Aug. 4), I completed 3 weeks with a total of 392 miles,” Dawkins wrote. “I have run/walked 218 miles in 10 consecutive days and need a day to rest. My feet are fine now as well as the rest of me. There is no soreness, only fatigue and a desire to eat.”
A few things he has gone through weren’t all that nice, such as summer heat, thunderstorms and one motorist who yelled, “Get a job!” at him just as he was about to leave North Carolina.
The trek has brought enough good experiences to be worth it, Dawkins says. It not only includes the number of miles covered, but also a restoration of his faith in the human race.
Dawkins writes about an encounter with a biker as an example, calling it “one of the coolest things.”
“I was passing a gas station as a Harley pulled up to exit,” he wrote on Aug. 5. “He swept in hand in a very gentlemanly fashion indicating that I should go first. As I went by he gave me the thumbs-up.:”
“I asked where he was going and he replied New Hampshire. I replied that I was going to San Diego. He said, ‘That’s cool. Have a great trip.’
“I was struck by the idea that he considered me a fellow traveler, just by a different means.
“I immediately thought of my brother, Roger, who travels on his Harley and has been across the U.S. twice. I called him to relate the encounter. It was good to hear his voice and understanding.”
In his journal, Dawkins dedicates each day to one person in his life.
“I was not sure of today’s dedication but the biker provided the answer,” he wrote.
He dedicated the day to his brother.
Dawkins is happy to have so much support, from friends from people whom he has met along his route. People interested in helping him out through donations of water, supplies and/or lodging may log onto www.dougsrun.wordpress.com and check the various links.

posted by Bill Lindau @ 7:38 PM