All posts in The Run

We began day twelve just outside of Burlington, North Carolina, and had a fairly uneventful morning. We did stop a random gas station and were pleasantly surprised to discover that we had made the front page of the Burlington Times News (just so you know, it’s incredibly cool to walk up to a newspaper stand and see yourself on the front). We also were interviewed by the Durham Herald-Sun later in the morning, and despite the fact that the photographer was a Duke fan, we would like thank them for taking the time to come out and talk to us. However, other than that, it was really just a morning of a lot of walking in a straight line kicking a soccer ball.

About 11:30, we picked up our balls and drove right outside of Hillsborough, North Carolina, where we met up with Mike Thomas and his absolutely awesome dog Berkeley (check out Berkeley kicking along with Kicking Across Carolina on our video for today. I actually haven’t seen the video for today, but if Berkeley isn’t on it then we’re going to have bigger issues than religious intolerance because that dog is adorable and we have footage of it.) Mike is the head of Eurosport’s Passback Program, and he was our main contact at Eurosport. Mike is basically the man. Eurosport, you should know, donated all of the soccer balls, all the shoes we’re wearing, and every single one of our stylish and comfortable t-shirts (you can look just like one of your favorite dribblers by purchasing an authentic Kicking Across Carolina shirt! http://kickingacrosscarolina.bigcartel.com/)

We dribbled with Mike and Berkeley to a park in Hillsborough where we got to play pickup with some Eurosport employees, and we showed them why the best pre-match preparation has nothing to do with dribbling 200 miles. Even though we might have been a little stiff, we still had a lot of fun, and afterwards we dribbled over to their offices and got to enjoy lunch with Eurosport Co-founder Brendan Moylan. Brendan was awesome, and I honestly can’t say enough about Eurosport as a whole. From Mike to Brendan to Berkeley to every employee that we met, they all were so supportive of our message, and we can’t thank them enough. Our dribble would still have happened without Eurosport. However, it wouldn’t have such stylish wardrobes to give to everyone and for that we are grateful.

After that, we drove back to where we picked up our balls this morning and spent the rest of the afternoon dribbling the miles in between where we picked up and where we met Mike in Hillsborough. It took us a while, and we ended up dribbling until about eight in the evening, but it was certainly worth it to meet the people at Eurosport who did so much for us. We completed 22.34 miles today to bring our total to 248.48, but instead of looking at the miles we’ve done, we’re all looking at the miles we’re about to do. We head into Chapel Hill tomorrow, and we couldn’t be more excited!

Day Seven

I believe it was three days ago when we were sitting in an old fashioned diner in the town of Catawba, hiding from the rain and enjoying lunch. The television situated in the corner began to update us on the weather, and we watched as the weatherman informed us of the highs and lows for the rest of the week. Wednesday was set to reach a high of 74 degrees; Thursday was set to reach 78. Friday, however, had no temperature located next to it. Friday was simply labeled GREAT.

Catawba weathermen. Simple meteorologists or profound prophets? For today really was a great day, both in weather and experiences. We set out from Mocksville, North Carolina, at about nine and set a blistering pace, both literally and figuratively. We met a fellow Tar Heel named Alex Fleming a few miles in, and he was kind enough to provide us with lemonades. About an hour later Doug from Channel 13 News found us, and you can watch Dylan’s excellent interview here. (Ha fooled you! It’s not online).

Even with both of those stops we managed 12.8 miles before lunch, a new personal record. We attributed our speed to the great weather, our bodies adapting over time, and Dylan’s “secret stuff” sports beans (see Space Jam). After lunch, we decided to dribble through the local Wells Fargo, and the ladies there were wonderful. Not only did they take care of all out banking needs, but they provided us with free lollipops and let us “autograph” their ball so we could feel important.

The afternoon wasn’t quite as eventful, and our pace slowed as we decided it was more fun to play soccer golf than dribble really far, but we still made some fair progress. We ended on the outskirts of Winston-Salem after 24.7 miles, and I think it was the first day that we stopped due to time rather than sore feet. We talked to Brett from WMFY News Channel 2 in Winston-Salem at the very end of today’s dribble, and you can watch Sasha’s better than excellent interview here.

I think the overall theme from today was one of excitement. Kicking Across Carolina is starting to grow, the word is starting to get out, and we couldn’t be more excited. We were on TV for the first time today, and not only once but twice. We were invited to dribble through the Greensboro Grasshoppers minor league baseball team’s stadium in between innings during their game on Monday, and that goes beyond ridiculously cool. We really feel like our message is starting to spread, and there’s simply nothing more exciting than that. I think Dylan said it best today when talking to Channel 13 “It’s not thanks to us that we’re starting to grow, it’s thanks to you”. It’s thanks to every person who liked us on facebook or followed us on twitter or told their friend about us or watched our videos or read this blog. And we would like to thank you.

(However, Dylan might have said it second best during our conversation today with a random stranger:

Stranger: Hey you were just on TV!
Dylan: Yeah we were. )

Sasha Seymore

Day four began under stormy conditions, as we set out in the rain from the little town of Valdese, North Carolina, marching steadily east down Highway 70. It rained almost all morning, but we managed to push through. Our stormy day received a little ray of sunshine when we found out that the article written yesterday by Ms. Cheryl Shuffler appeared on the front page of the Morganton News Herald, and we were even more pleasantly surprised when we discovered that it had made its way into the Hickory Daily Record as well.

Other than that, the morning essentially just consisted of a lot of dribbling and a lot of being wet. We traveled about eleven miles, and then stopped at small Mexican shop for lunch (Note: Mexican food, while delicious, is not recommended for those traveling over twenty miles per day. My apologies to the ozone layer.)

The afternoon, however, was quite a different story. We rolled into Hickory at about one, and the amount of support from the town of Hickory was just incredible. Maybe because we were in the newspaper that day, or maybe because of some inner kindness in the heart of all Hickorians (I made that word up I don’t know what a person from Hickory is called), we just received so much support. Jay Johnson, a fellow Tar Heel, came out and kicked with us for a couple of hours, and his mother Patty was kind enough to supply Powerades, a huge boost considering how hot the weather became. One lady stopped us on the road to provide encouragement and then picked up her sons to come meet us too. Miss Anita saw us walking down the road, picked up her 8-year old son Grayson from school, and then tracked us down—just because she’s that awesome. When we finished our dribbling for today, we found refuge at the Cooper’s house—who brought us in and fed us and even did our laundry—even though they hadn’t heard about Kicking Across Carolina until we explained it over dinner.

Overall, we traveled 22.1 miles today. We dribbled through the rain in the morning, the heat in the afternoon, then to top it off some more rain as we finished, and for me at least, it was certainly one of the more challenging days. However, it’s always so much easier to keep going when there are great people all around providing encouragement and showing us love on all sides. I think the verse that inspired me the most to make this trip was John 13:34, when Jesus said ““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” and the verse was certainly on my mind today as we tried to love others, and the town of Hickory loved us.

Total Time Spent Traveling: 10 hours (oddly specific)

Day 3

Today was probably the most difficult day of dribbling we have experienced thus far, as we all awoke at 6:30am, complaining of blisters, soreness, and back pain. Our morning conversation was so pitiful; it could have been used as an advertisement for Metamucil. To add insult to injury (literally) we were forced to pack up our things and move on from the Jones family home, much like zoo animals being re-introduced to the wild. Needless to say, it was a rough start to the day, and when we finally reached our starting point at 9:00am, we were in desperate need of motivation. Our motivation was provided once again by members of the St. John’s Methodist Church congregation, who shouted words of encouragement and support as they drove past us on their way to work.

As we dribbled the first few miles, we gained strength in our legs once again and began to focus on our goals for the day. We were able to arrange a meeting with the News Herald, the newspaper in Morganton, and after lunch, we dribbled to their headquarters for an interview by Ms. Cheryl Shuffler, whose article can be found here. After the interview, Dylan, Sasha and myself partook in a relaxing break by playing a few games of soccer tennis, which Papa subsequently joined in on. We left the interview, revitalized, reenergized and ready to finish the last 10 miles of our dribble.

We reached our destination at around 6 in the evening, finishing our dribble at a local ice cream parlor, Myra’s Ice Cream Shop in Valdese. We then headed to our home for the night, the First United Methodist Church in Marion, where they have accommodated us with everything we could ask for and more. This further proved the old adage that a stranger is simply a friend you haven’t met yet, as western North Carolina has embraced us with open arms.

I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the past few days and how we feel things have progressed. Thus far, the past three days have been an unreal experience. The amount of support we’ve received from family, friends, and complete strangers is unbelievable. We’re quickly realizing that our sore feet are a small price to pay for the level of happiness and satisfaction we receive from spreading our message and reaching out to people. Our most sincere thanks goes out to all of the people who have helped us thus far; the Jones family, who hosted us, fed us, and put up with our shenanigans, the friendly strangers who wave at us or ask us what we’re doing, the supporters who send us messages/texts/tweets/fan mail/carrier pigeons, it is thanks to all of you that we wake up every morning with smiles on our faces and go to bed, exhausted, but ecstatic. Our expectations have been exceeded in every capacity, and it puts a smile on my face just thinking of all of the people who believe in our cause and share our passion for peace and coexistence

Total Distance Traveled Today: 21.7 miles
Total Time Traveled Today: 8 hours, 30 minutes
Total Distance Traveled: 65.25 miles

Day 1 – 05.05.2012

Today was the first day of Kicking Across Carolina, our journey across this
great state in hopes of raising funds and awareness regarding religious pluralism
and peaceful coexistence. We awoke from a sleepless night at 6:45 and headed out
to the John B. Lewis Soccer Center here in Asheville where we started our trek.
Dylan livestreamed the action on his phone and we had two whole viewers at
kickoff time, so special thanks to the Heely’s and Dylan’s Mom for waking up early
and experiencing a special moment with us. We were joined by my childhood friend/
brother from another mother Sam Rossabi who was kind enough to be our first
celebrity dribbler, as he joined us for about six miles of our trip.

In the early goings we experienced some problems keeping the soccer balls
under control, as Dylan lost his to a nearby stream, our first of many scares with
losing the balls, but thankfully he was able to retrieve it and we continued on our
way. Soon thereafter, the weather decided to pull a Hillary Duff and “Let the Rain
Fall Down”, and while rain doesn’t stop Kicking Across Carolina, it did put a damper
(pun intended) on Sasha’s phone. However, the rain also brought us some good
news as we partook in a 2 vs. 2 mini-game pitting Sasha and Dylan against Sam and
myself. To keep a long story short, Dylan and Sasha were victorious, winning 3-1
before we moved on with our dribbling. This loss may have scared Sam away, as he
made up some excuse of how he “had to work”, so we bid Sam farewell and
continued on our journey.

As we dribbled through the neighboring town of Swananoa, we decided to
fulfill some viewers’ request in terms of filming. Upon hearing peoples’ requests that
we should include more footage of us actually dribbling, Dylan decided to set up the
camera on a traffic cone situated on the sidewalk and film us dribbling, for our
viewers’ pleasure, however we were nearly robbed of our camera, as an
unidentified vehicle nearly got away with the camera, and would most certainly
have succeeded if not for Dylan’s puma-like reflexes. Fortunately, the camera was
recovered and crisis was averted. Soon thereafter, we settled down for a lunch
break at a local Hot Dog King (not to be confused with its more popular cousin,
Burger King).

We continued our journey after lunch, dribbling up a mountain pass towards
Black Mountain, engaging in epic rap battles all the way (or in Dylan’s case,
attempting to rap…and failing). After several strenuous hours, we finally reached a
bike path with less traffic, however it had the major drawback of being bordered by
sheer cliffs along one side, not the most conducive of elements, especially when
you’re trying to dribble across our great state. Tragedy struck at about the 18 mile
mark when we lost a ball to the foliage of western North Carolina. I say “we” and I of
course mean myself, as I lost control of a ball and it careened down the
mountainside, never to be seen again. Fortunately, we were able to utilize the
replacement balls that Eurosport was kind enough to provide us with, so while this
was certainly an obstacle, it was overcome and we “powered through”, eventually
arriving at the town of Old Fort, our final destination for our first day.

Total Distance Traveled: 21.2 miles

Total Time Spent Traveling: 10 hours (oddly specific)