2/12/2009 5:36:00 AM
Runner brings attention to Lincoln's 200th birthday
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BY CINDY WOOD
Times Bulletin Correspondent
Call him crazy. Many people have.
But Eric Ebinger has a distinct reason for running across Ohio, mid-Feburary, through rain, snow and extreme wind gusts. A self-proclaimed "big picture" guy, he's braving the elements to bring attention to a man he both respected and admired, Abraham Lincoln. And today, as the nation observes the former president's 200th birthday, Ebinger will be running through the county, accompanied by members of the Van Wert, Lincolnview, Crestview and Delphos St. John's cross country teams.
He'll begin his five-leg trip near the Indiana State Line. Averaging approximately 50 miles per day, Ebinger will end his 241-mile jaunt near East Liverpool. And he's hoping he doesn't lose any toenails in the process. "They say that can happen in long-distance running," he said. "Around here it's wonderfully flat, but it gets very hilly as you go east, and I know that's going to be a challenge. That's why I'm running the longer legs the first two days, so I can take it a little easier on the hills."
Resting up in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express Wednesday evening, the couple began their adventure at 7 a.m. this morning. A runner herself, and varsity track coach of the New London girls team, Misty will run with her husband when she can. Together, the couple will travel through the Ohio countryside in search of quaint little townships, bicentennial barns and historic courthouses. "Especially the courthouses in Upper Sandusky, and here in Van Wert. They're just amazing," Eric said. "I want other people to get excited about all of the things I'm excited about seeing." This summer, he plans to come back to visit the communities he visited and people he met along the way. "I want to come back and talk to them, and write stories about the people I meet and the places I see."
To mentally prepare for his trip, Ebinger said he only needed to do one thing - put himself out there. "Once I did that, there was accountability. I started a web site, thelincolnrun.com, and I just put myself out there," he said. "I started writing about what I was going to do, and there's an amazing mental connection that happens when you get an email from someone you don't know who says, 'Wow, I'll run with you through Bucyrus.' I guess it just meant I had to do it."
A successful finish will require five legs of what is essentially a double marathon every day, for the next five days. "I know, I know, call me crazy," he said. "But I'm going slow, and I've been training at 8-9 minute pace, and for this I'll be running 10-12 minute pace. And I'll 'ultra-marathoning' and walking for 20 minutes each hour."
Along the way, he'll also be plugging the nation's first trans-continental highway. "It's just an amazing piece of engineering," he said of the Lincoln Highway. "It's also the ancient shore of the Erie Canal, and that's just really cool. And all along the highway, there's all these clubs filled with people who just love their highway."
Part of a highly-successful high school cross country team, Ebinger admits he wasn't a stand-out. "In fact, I was pretty ordinary. I wasn't a star runner of any kind, but I just wanted to prove that someone ordinary can really do something extraordinary."
He found his way back to long-distance running nearly two years ago, and shed 50 pounds in the process. "I was really a mess when I started running again," he said. "But I was able to finish the Cleveland marathon in 3:47, and as I crossed the finish line, I had a thought that I was going to run across Ohio."
Two years later, his moment has arrived. The 31-year-old fully believes that he will complete his run. "I'm a dreamer. I'm a big picture person. I just think people can believe in themselves and believe they can do something like this."
During his run, he said he'll think about the man he calls "amazing" and "courageous." "This really is to honor Lincoln, and I think this is what probably will be a parallel experience to what he went through. I really think of him not as the man who's on the five dollar bill, but the man who had written letters to mothers who had lost their sons, and who had nightmares of dying in office. I just really want to do this."
And after?
Ebinger will go back to his job as a human resources manager for a Norwalk fabrication company. And the couple will return to their normal day-to-day - for a little while. "I'm sure there will be something else come up, whatever the next big picture will be."
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