Running For Wounded Warriors

Newcomer to long distance running, Drew Miller, set out on adventure earlier this year, to not only bring change to his own life, but to the lives of military vets and their families.
On April 1, the 32 year-old Miller began a run across the nation to bring awareness and raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps to provide much needed services to injured serviceman and women.
“I always wanted to do something completely insane,” said Miller, “I also wanted to go cross country.”
Miller said he came up with the idea after watching the story of cancer survivor Terry Fox, who had lost his leg to cancer and tackled his own journey across the nation with a prosthetic leg.
“I thought if this guy can do it with a prosthetic leg, surely I can do it,” Miller said.
Miller said before he could be ready for such a huge task, he had to train and be in better physical condition to succeed.
Prior to the journey idea, Miller said he had let his self go for the past 5-6 years and had gained a lot of weight.
“I was out of shape, miserable and mad at myself for getting to that point,” Miller said.
On Jan. 1, at 262 pounds, Miller began to work out and train for the journey ahead of him. By April 1, Miller had dropped down to 217 pounds and took off running from Long Beach, Calif.
“It was a perfect storm of possibilities,” Miller said. “It came at the perfect time, as five years before I wouldn’t have been ready and 10 years down the road I probably wouldn’t want to do it.”
Miller, who had previously never ran more than five miles at a time, plans to run, not walk, the entire journey, which will end in his home town of Spencer, W.V.
Miller has a routine of running 20 miles per day for four straight days, rests for one day and then back to four days on. As of Monday, when he ran through Guymon, Miller has ran 57 days of the 73 days of the journey, thus far running 1,140 miles.
“It’s shocking to me that I can handle 20 miles per day,” Miller said. “It’s pretty amazing what the human body can endure.”
Miller said the journey has had its share of good and bad days, some days he’s full of energy and it goes quickly, while other days he’s tired and has to force his way on.
When asked whether he ever doubted he could handle it, Miller said, “Every 30 seconds for the first three days I wondered what did I get myself into.”
Miller, who has been accompanied on the journey only by his mother who doubles as the crew, reported so far the weather has not been extreme, with the exception a freak, 30 minute blizzard while at an altitude of about 7,000 feet in Arizona.
Miller plans to end his run at home in Mid-August, after which he said, “I will probably take a couple of weeks to review the scope of what just happened.”
Miller also plans to end the event with a scheduled speech, “The long road home,” and then onto the Wounded Warrior Project headquarters Jacksonville, Fla. to personally present a check for the money raised for the cause during the journey.
“This has been by far, the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “The fact that is the hardest will make it the most rewarding.”
For more information about Drew Miller, to track his progress or to donate to the cause, follow his daily blog at dmrun.blogspot.com or on Facebook – DrewMillerTheLongroadhome or email him at [email protected]
For more information about the Wounded Warrior Project, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org.