(June 12, 2015) With the ocean as her destination, Caitlin Adams is still all about the journey.
โIโm going to run across the Route 50 bridge at 9 a.m., cross Division Street and keep on going until I hit the water,โ the 18-year-old Towson freshman said.
With that plunge, the track star will have completed a 390-mile journey she began on May 23 in Cumberland to run across the entire state while raising money for Limbs for Life, a nonprofit organization that provides prosthetic limbs for people who may not be able to afford them. She is expected to arrive in Ocean City on June 27.
When contacted on Tuesday evening, she was in Dublin, Md. and was beginning the 15-mile run to Rising Sun. When five miles of that journey was completed, she officially hit the halfway point of her trek.
โEvery uphill has a downhill, I have to keep telling myself that. Iโm moving forward and my bodyโs holding up. I have some aches, pains and blisters but Iโm getting through it,โ she said.
Distance running can be a lonely sport, and it has left Adams with a lot of time to think.
โSometimes I donโt think of anything,โ she laughed, โbut I do wonder what I want to do next. Maybe Iโll run across Maryland again, because I know what Iโm doing now, or across the United States. I might write a book because I have a few words Iโd like to get out there.โ
If she does decide to run across the state again, nothing much would change, she said. She would still be raising money for Limbs for Life, and sheโs been happy with the route she laid out, including the choice to skip the bay bridge in favor of turning north and running up and around the Chesapeake Bay.
The other options would bring additional plans into the mix, she said.
โWith prosthetics, I see something that should be fixed. If youโre born missing a limb or have lost one serving our country you should be able to have it replaced,โ she said. โSo many other things can be fixed if we take a step back and maybe make more changes.โ
Adams said running makes here feel good.
โAll you have to do is believe in your idea. Anyone can do anything. I remember what I want to do with my life and what I want to do next,โ she said.
Thatโs the big picture, but the small-scale stuff matters just as much.
โI think a lot about water, and how thirsty and hot I can get out there,โ she said.
Last weekโs heavy rainfall didnโt help either.
โWhile I was out running it was great, but as soon as I stopped it got cold and I was shivering,โ she said.
Adams said she has learned a thing or two about shoes as well.
โI started with four pairs, and theyโre all holding up, but the really light ones I liked when I started have become my least favorite pair,โ she said. โThe expensive ones I found really stiff, but now theyโre my favorite pair.โ
Adams has raised almost $17,000 for Limbs for Life through her crowdsourcing site: www.crowdrise.com/caitlinsmdrun-prosthetics.
Each prosthetic costs about $2,500 according to Adams, so sheโs about $500 short of being able to provide another prosthetic limb to the 200-plus people on the charityโs list of potential recipients.
