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Amber Young-Dalton, left, and her daughter, Laura Young, right, pose with Gary Allen after meeting up in Wiscasset. Allen is running from Cadillac Mountain to East Rutherford, N.J. to raise money for the Wounded Warriors Project. (Photo courtesy Amber Young-Dalton) |
By Sherwood Olin
Dedicated runner Amber Young-Dalton of Newcastle got a little road work in and lent her support to a fundraising effort for the Wounded Warriors Project Sunday.
Young ran four miles with Gary Allen of Cranberry Island Jan. 27. Allen is running 500 miles from Cadillac Mountain in Maine to the Super Bowl in East Rutherford, N. J. to raise money for Wounded Warriors project.
With a goal of averaging 50 miles per day, Allen hopes to arrive in New Jersey in time for the Super Bowl Feb. 2.
Young said she had hoped to run with Allen when he passed through Lincoln County but did not know if the opportunity would present itself.
Sunday morning she awoke to a Facebook message from a friend informing her Allen was in Newcastle. Encouraged and accompanied by her husband, Joe Dalton, Young caught up with Allen at the Wiscasset Quik Stop.
“It was completely impromptu,” Young said. “We saw he was in Newcastle, so we checked his running tracker (online). We saw he was coming across the bridge in Edgecomb, so I threw on some clothes, threw some cookies in a bag, and we were out the door.”
Amber Young-Dalton, (center right) poses with Gary Allen, (center left) and supporters after running four miles with Allen Sunday. Allen is running from Cadillac Mountain to the East Rutherford, N.J. to raise money for the Wounded Warriors Project. |
Young said Allen was delighted to have the company, but he was focused on the task at hand and showing the effects of his third day on the road. Young ran four miles with Allen at an 11.5 minutes per mile pace before she turned off in Woolwich.
Young said she was motivated to run with Allen in part due to her own military service. Young served five and half years in the Navy, mustering out in Brunswick in 2001.
“This guy is out there raising money for the Wounded Warriors Project,” she said. “Because of my own military service, I connect with that.”
The Wounded Warriors Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing services, programs, and events for American military veterans wounded since Sept. 11, 2001.
Young described Allen as “a pretty neat guy” who runs a lot of marathons and ultra marathons and is someone who “is always looking for the next adventure.”
According to media reports, Allen has run more than 90 marathons and is one of the relatively few runners to have completed sub-three-hour marathons in five different decades.
In 2013, he ran from Cadillac Mountain to Washington, D.C. for President Obama’s second inauguration, also a fundraiser for the Wounded Warriors Project.
In Wiscasset Sunday, small talk was minimal and mostly focused on running, Young said.
“That is what the running community does,” she said. “We support each other. Here he was three days in and I am sure morale gets low when you are out there slogging out miles. I brought him cookies and muffins.”
Young said the run was a thrill for her. Young, who has a running streak of 333 consecutive days (as of Jan. 28), said she appreciates the effort Allen is undertaking. Young has run two marathons herself, most recently completing the Dopey Challenge at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
The Challenge involves a 5K, a 10K, a half-marathon and full, 26.2 mile marathon on four consecutive days.
Young, who plans to enter a half-marathon in April and a full marathon in May, said she has no desire to attempt something on the scale of Allen’s efforts for the Wounded Warriors Project.
“Here I thought the Dopey Challenge was hard but this is just a different level of crazy,” she said, stressing that, among runners, “crazy” is considered a compliment.
For more information about the Wounded Warriors Project please visit http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org. To follow Allen’s progress, or to make a donation, visit http://www.maine2superbowlrun.com.
