Farm intern to run across U.S.
By Kevin Allen
Source: Rappahannock News
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26 2008
It sounds like an April Fool's joke, but it's not.
On April 1, Elena Helmerick is going to begin running across the United States. Her plan is to start Tuesday at the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach. Her destination is the Pacific Ocean in northern California, some 3,200 miles away.
If she is successful, the 23-year-old Mount Vernon Farm intern says she will become just the 10th woman to achieve the feat.
"I've been planning to do it since high school," said Helmerick, who ran track and cross country at North Carolina State University.
She was still a sophomore in college when she completed her first long-distance run, from her front porch in Laramie, Wyo., to her grandmother's house in Cheyenne, some 50 miles away.
"I thought it would be cool to get there on my own feet, so I did," she said.
Helmerick estimates that her coast-to-coast trip will take about three months. She plans to run six hours per day – a three-hour shift in the morning and another three-hour shift in the evening. Depending on terrain, she probably will cover between 30 and 40 miles a day at the pace of 10 minutes per mile. She is not going to take any days off.
Accompanying Helmerick on the trip will be her boyfriend, Nick Lehecka, and the couple's two dogs. They have an RV that will serve as a mobile base for the run. Lehecka will be the one-man support crew.
Helmerick is encouraging anyone who is interested in running with her, whether it be for an hour or a day, to join her on the road. Her route is mapped out on her Web site, www.run3200.com. She will not be passing through Rappahannock County, but will be running nearby, roughly parallel to the Interstate 64 corridor.
Helmerick is also running with a cause: to promote more healthy lifestyles through exercise and eating local, naturally raised foods.
The couple are planning to visit organic, sustainable farms along the cross-country route.
"The main thing is to help bring them exposure," Lehecka said.
"And to show people that local foods are available everywhere," Helmerick added. "[The run] is a great platform to educate people about it."
"Living in Rappahannock, it's easy to show people you never have to eat anything processed, and we want to show people you can do that anywhere," Lehecka said.
Lehecka, who is a competitive triathlete, said natural food, like that raised at Mount Vernon Farm, can give athletes a noticeable boost.
"For her training and the training I do, it really makes a difference," he said. The couple plan to continue eating healthy, local foods by picking them up at farms across the nation.
Both Helmerick and Lehecka say living at Mount Vernon Farm, where they have worked as interns since August, has helped them a great deal in training for the trip.
One of the selling points for them when they first came to visit the farm was that Rappahannock is a great training ground for runners.
"Just on this property, we have miles of trails on the mountain," Lehecka said.
Helmerick says her favorite running spot in the county is where Old Hollow hits Shenandoah National Park. Lehecka's favorite areas are Hawlin Road, Quaintance Road and Woodward Road.
In addition to working on Mount Vernon Farm, Helmerick finds time to run two to three hours a day. She expects she will have the energy to run longer if she is not burning calories on farm chores.
Helmerick said Mount Vernon Farm owner Cliff Miller has provided a lot of encouragement.
"Cliff is really supportive," she said.
"If things are busy, but we have to get a run in, he'll say, 'Then go get your run in,' " Lehecka said.
Maybe that's because Miller can understand the runner's mentality. After all, he used to run a three-hour, five-minute marathon in the 1970s.
"I have no doubt that Elena's gonna make it," Miller said.
Helmerick and Lehecka estimate it will cost about $10,000 – including gas, food and other expenses – to make the cross-country trip.
They budgeted $600 just for water. Elena will need about six gallons daily. She will stay energized on runs with a drink mix that includes protein and complex carbohydrates.
Helmerick and Lehecka are accepting donations to fund the trip. Two corporate sponsors, Camelbak and the Charlottesville Running Company, have provided some assistance.
A portion of each donation will be given to World Hunger Year, which works toward community-based solutions for ending hunger and poverty, and Run Diabetes Run, one man's campaign to run a marathon in each state to raise funds for Type 1 diabetes research.
Rappahannock donors can indicate if they would like their donations to benefit the county public schools' Farm-to-Table Program.
"The trip is the mechanism for getting the message out, so the donations will be supporting the cause," Lehecka said.
Follow Elena:
Visit www.run3200.com to check on Elena Helmerick's progress as she runs across the United States. The Web site can be used to make a monetary contribution to her trip and the organizations she is supporting. Run 3200 T-shirts are also available for purchase on the site.