{"id":21339,"date":"2014-03-14T16:38:17","date_gmt":"2014-03-14T23:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/?p=21339"},"modified":"2020-06-05T15:10:47","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T22:10:47","slug":"former-pastor-run-across-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/clean-water-news-stories\/former-pastor-run-across-america","title":{"rendered":"New journey for former pastor after run across America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new journey is beginning for a former pastor from Illinois who completed his run across America to raise money for water<\/a> in Africa.<\/p>\n

Steve Spear, 50, finished his cross-country run on Sept. 6 at New York’s Battery Park, overlooking the Statue of Liberty. He started on April 8 in Santa Monica, California.<\/p>\n

I still feel called to devote myself to running and how running changes lives.—Steve Spear<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n

For five months, he wrestled with the daunting physical, spiritual, and logistical challenges of running 3,081 miles as they collided with the weighty implications of his goal to raise $1.5 million to provide clean water for 30,000 people in Kenya<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“In one sense, this run was my greatest trusted friend, hated rival, and constant companion,” says Steve. He insists he still does not love to run.<\/p>\n

From lonely, soul-searching hours on the road, to getting the flu, to treating blisters on his feet, and questioning his original motive for the cross-country run, life on the road almost got the best of him.<\/p>\n

“One day, I got to the point … I was just kind of going, ‘This is utter nuttiness,’” Steve says. “I told my wife, ‘I think I’m done, I think I’m done.’”<\/p>\n

He wasn’t done. He finished.<\/p>\n

A breakdown of Steve’s run across America by the numbers:<\/h2>\n