INDIANAPOLIS — Anyone who has run long distance knows the final stretch can be the toughest, but Kokomo's Cameron Balser, a modern day Forrest Gump, has everybody beat.
He's in the final miles of a run across America.
Check that — not across, but around. Balser is jogging the entire perimeter of the United States.
"I'm currently 246 days into my run around the country. I mean, literally around the country," Balser said.
On the road since October, the journey is now nearly complete.
"I think I've cleared almost about 400,000 feet of elevation since I've left Oct. 9, and that's equivalent to 12-plus Mount Everest climbs," Balser said.
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.
Kokomo man runs 12,000 miles 'around' the United States
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 hasn't been these final miles, but rather, the first step. Now as he heads back home again to 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.