Naval Officer Running From Sea to Shining Sea

From Naval Education and Training Command

April 22, 2010 - VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (NNS) -- A Navy intelligence officer and ultra marathoner is planning to attain a personal goal and run across the entire United States, beginning April 23. The transcontinental trek is estimated to take 45 days.

Lt. Geoff Weber will begin his cross-country run at Santa Monica Pier in California, attempting to break the record for fastest time from Los Angeles to New York on foot. The current record, 46 days, 8 hours and 36 minutes, was set by Frank Giannino back in 1980. A total of 220 runners are on record as completing the event.

While the shortest distance between the two coasts, 2340 miles, is from San Diego to Jacksonville, Fla., Weber has chosen to go the "granddaddy of transcontinental runs," the slightly longer 2800-mile Los Angeles to New York trail.

"I'll admit that it's a daunting run when you look at it as a whole," said Weber. "But if you break it down and think about it as individual segments, it's a little more manageable."

Weber, 42, is currently stationed at the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center (NMITC) in Virginia Beach, Va. As an accomplished ultra marathoner – runs of more than 100 miles – he is no stranger to high-endurance competitions. In addition to his other accomplishments, Weber twice held the Guinness World's Record for the fastest 50 kilometers on a treadmill, the first one completed onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), and a 24-hour treadmill run at a sports convention in Las Vegas.

Weber calculates he's participated in more than one thousand runs and other athletic events in his career, and this shapes up to be the most challenging.

"I made the final decision to tackle what many consider the ultimate run after completing the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. in October 2006," said Weber. "Right after the marathon, I ran back home to Virginia Beach, across the state of Virginia, a distance of 209 miles, logging approximately 55 miles per day for three days. I felt pretty good after four days of running, and that planted the seed that I might actually be able to complete a run across the United States."

It took almost four years for Weber to work out the logistics for the transcontinental run, including negotiating with his boss for 50 days of continuous leave.

"My commanding officer at NMITC, Capt. Donald Darnell, allowed me to take such a large chunk of leave as part of my transition to a new duty station," said Weber. "Without my command's support, this would not have been possible."

"I'd never granted more than 30 days of continuous leave before, so Weber's request was a little unusual," said Darnell, "But his plan was well laid-out and he's got an impressive history of endurance events, so we are glad to support his efforts. The staff and students at the Center for Naval Intelligence and NMITC will be closely following his GPS track and progress during the run."

Most transcontinental runners have used some form of chase vehicle or personal strollers to carry their support equipment during their trek. Weber will be running without either of those. Aside from the clothes on his back, he plans to complete his run sustained by a 9,000 calorie per day diet, wearing just nine pounds of gear: an 80-ounce Camelback for water, a cell phone, a handheld GPS, a credit card, and the harness that supports the Camelback.

"I intend to live off the American roadside terrain," said Weber. "This includes fast-food restaurants, public restrooms, post offices and sleeping at motels along the route. I'll have a few packages with consumables sent in advance to scheduled stops, including toiletries, detergent, and new shoes."

Weber has previewed much of his route using the street-view feature of Google Earth, noting the locations of motels and fast-food restaurants along the way. He'll need to average 62 miles per day, with some days only 40 miles and others 80 miles because of lodging restrictions and running without a chase crew.

While there will be no crew physically following him closely behind, Weber will have a distant support group sustaining him with logistics. Choosing to complete the bulk of the run in the early morning hours, he will be getting a 3 a.m. wake-up call each day from a member of his church group, hit the road and run approximately eight to 16 hours each day, pausing only for breaks as needed.

Weber trained for this run on his daily commute to and from work, driving into work on Mondays, running to and from work during the week, and driving back home on Fridays, logging 28 miles per day during the week. On weekends, he tries to squeeze in two 20-milers on Saturday and two more on Sunday.

After dipping a foot in the Pacific Ocean at 6 a.m. Friday, April 23, Weber will begin his run. If all goes as planned, four million steps and 45 days, 16 hours later on Monday, June 7, he will set that same, slightly tired foot in the Atlantic Ocean, setting a new world's record and more importantly, achieving his dream of being the 221st runner to cross the U.S.