In the 24 days since Jeremy Schaefer left his small town in Vermont to run across the country, he’s missed his son’s birthday. He will miss holidays with loved ones well into 2014.
But he did not spend Thanksgiving alone.
See photos from Schaefer's odyssey. >>
After his cell phone was stolen at a restaurant in Phenix City, Ala., he posted a frantic message on Facebook and Dorothy Marusek of Fort Walton Beach responded.
She and her husband, Karl Marusek drove eight hours round trip Wednesday to bring Schaefer to their home for Thanksgiving. On Friday, they drove eight hours to get him back on his route and return home.
“I wasn’t going to leave him stranded in some strange city all alone,” said Dorothy, who had been following Schaefer’s trek online.
“He’s just had a rough couple of days,” she added. “I said, ‘Dude, you deserve a break. Just come home with us a couple of days and we’ll figure it out.’ ”
Another supporter shipped him a new phone.
“I felt more at home there than I had in a long time,” Schaefer said of his visit..
The 37-year-old is running to raise awareness and funds for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Five years ago, he couldn’t look at people or talk to anyone. He was depressed and suicidal. Running transformed him.
“I’ve been here and I’ve been there,” he said. “This is a chance to feel better.”
He quickly found that running ultra-marathons has little in common with a cross country trek, pushing his possessions in a jogging stroller.
“Mostly, it’s to put myself out there, to rely on people, not just assume and believe everything you’ve been told. My comfort zones are challenged every day.”
Follow Jeremy Schaefer’s run across the United States, on Facebook under Pretty Big Run.
Donations can be made to http://www.rockethub.com/projects/35707-pretty-big-run