‘Pete’s Feet Across America’ runs through Charles City

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Life is a journey — run it up.

That’s Pete Kostelnick’s philosophy.

He’s got a Guinness World Record to prove it.

Kostelnick made a brief stop in Charles City Friday morning on his journey of “Pete’s Feet Across America.”

That journey is a 5,300-mile trek from the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska to Key West, Florida. He’ll average 50 miles a day and plans on reaching Key West — the southernmost point in the continental United States — 100 days later in early November. His adventure began on July 31 at Anchor Point, Alaska, the westernmost point on American highways.

Kostelnick began his Friday run in the morning in Floyd, where he had stayed Thursday evening with Rusty Rogotzke, a Charles City middle school teacher. Friday’s stop, or day 67 on his trek, will be in Cedar Falls. Then it’s on to Marion on Saturday and Davenport on Sunday.

His monumental task of essentially running two marathons a day, self supported, would have most not only scratching their head, but gasping for air.

“Most people that do runs across America do it at a much slower pace,” said Kostelnick. “A marathon a day is pretty aggressive already. It’s a tall task.”

Kostelnick, 31, will not take one day off on his 100-day voyage.

It has seen him run through thick smoke in British Columbia for three days straight because of forest fires. He’s seen grizzly bears, black bears and herds of wild bison on his expedition. Kostelnick has never had to use his bear spray that he carries with him while pushing his cart of supplies.

People who follow his trip across the nation online often join up with him and run alongside the incredible athlete who graduated from Boone High School and attended Iowa State University.

“It’s a brand new challenge. It’s a little bit different than last time because I’m not running quite as much per day but I’m self supported. So I’m pushing all my gear and drink throughout the day, finding places along the route to stay,” said Kostelnick.

The Guinness World Record he set was for the fastest coast-to-coast crossing of the United States on foot. He started in San Francisco and ended in Manhattan, New York, 42 days, six hours and 30 minutes later. His effort beat a record that had stood for 36 years.

What’s Kostelnick’s motivation this time around?

It’s basically a personal test of endurance.

“I’m just trying to do something different that no one has really ever done before. That’s also a big motivator,” said Kostelnick. “I want to kind of just show what the human body is capable of and just making it an incredible journey.”

Bad weather is his biggest hurdle.

“I’ve had a lot of good weather. But it’s days with headwinds and days with rain that have always been a struggle for me,” said Kostelnick. “I would say the weather plays the biggest factor in how good of a day I’m going to have.”

People can chart his journey online at petesfeetaa.com.