CLEVELAND — Cam Balser quoted the character Forrest Gump after finishing his 293-day trip around the border of the United States.
The Kokomo native ran more than 11,000 miles, or the equivalent of 423 marathons. That works out to almost 40 miles every day for 9 1/2 months.
On July 29, he arrived back where he started in Cleveland, Ohio.
Over the course of his journey, Balser went through 28 pairs of shoes, and climbed the equivalent of 13 Mount Everests.
Along the way, he picked up sponsorship deals, was featured in a short documentary, and met fans from across the entire United States.
We first introduced you to Balser in January. Since then, he's visited 33 states, burned nearly 2 million calories, run the equivalent of more than 400 marathons and gone through 28 pairs of running shoes.
"The last pair of shoes I had, it made it from Montana all the way to Ironwood, Michigan, so that was 1,000-plus miles," Balser said.
Balser said this run wasn't for a cause, just about living in the moment, experiencing and sharing joy.
It hasn't all been easy.
"I got into where it was just like dirt roads, and it ended up being extremely muddy, and I have a trailer, so trying to pull that trailer, that mud was pretty difficult," Balser said.
But he's also had amazing moments, seeing America's beauty and meeting in person some of his 30,000 social media followers.
Balser said the hardest part wasn't the final miles, but rather, the first step. Now that he's been back home again in Indiana, he hopes others get inspired to take that step, too.
"You can pretty much make an avenue and do anything, if it's truly something you love and passionate about, those things kind of open up," Balser said.
And that's all he has to say about that.