PORT CLYDE—For no particular reason, he decided to go for a little run. No, not just Tom Hanks as the lead character in the movie Forrest Gump, but a U.K. marathon runner named Rob Pope, who started his run in Mobile, Alabama in September, 2016, following the route of Forrest Gump. After running across the southern U.S. to Santa Monica, CA, he turned around and headed east. Rob reached his east coast destination on Friday, April 28, 2017 at Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde, Maine.

Unlike Forrest Gump, Pope did have a particular reason to go for a little run. An experienced marathoner who has won marathons in the U.K. and Australia and an emergency veterinarian, now he's using his talents to raise funds for two charities, The World Wildlife Fund and Peace Direct.

So far, Rob has logged over 6,000 miles, and he’s still going. He started clean shaven and in the garb of Hanks’ character when he began in Alabama and by the time he got to Maine, he had the signature long brown beard and red track outfit. Through connections, he managed to secure lodging with Port Clyde resident James Morris, and hit the Black Harpoon while here.

“We didn’t even know he would be arriving until we saw it on the morning news,” said Laura Betancourt, Publicity Coordinator of the Marshall Point Lighthouse. “You see people re-enacting that scene from Forrest Gump every year, but he really did the entire scene from the movie and he was dressed to the part.”

The lighthouse staff had a chance to talk with him and get to know his purpose for running. “He was a really nice guy,” she said. “He’s had a lot of experience in marathons so this was a passion of his.”

Very few people have attempted this entire coast to coast run emulating the movie. In 2015, the Portland Press Herald reported that a Michigan man, Barclay Oudersluys, 23, ran from California to Maine, stopping at Marshall Point Lighthouse, but that he took a vehicle back home.

At the time of this story, Pope has already made his way back across New York State and is still going. According to his press release, Pope plans to continue running, this time along the northern tier of the country, visiting all five of the Great Lakes, Utah and San Francisco as he traverses the country again.

(For the record, Forrest Gump stopped running somewhere on Route 163 in Farmington, New Mexico.)

Pope received a warm welcome and gift from the Marshall Point Lighthouse Committee and enjoyed a private tour of the museum, and was even the first visitor of the season to sign the museum guest book.

For more information on Pope’s ongoing run visit: goingthedistancerun.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com