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Paul Staso
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Paul
is
making a promise to children around the globe!
 First, You
Need To Know About The First Promise!
You need
to know that P.A.C.E. actually began with a "promise" made
by Paul in September 2005 to his then ten-year-old daughter,
Ashlin, and her 5th grade classmates. If you have
read the
Get To Know Paul
page, or
the
Paul Answers Questions
page, of this web site you know that he promised his daughter's
class that he would run across America solo during the
summer of 2006 if they could virtually do it first!
He made the promise to help motivate the students to be
successful in the 3,200-mile trek, and they only had 9
months to do it. Ashlin's class of 40 students
succeeded, and so
did
Paul. At the age of 41, he ran 3,260 miles across America in
108 days on the pavement, becoming the 6th person in history to run from
one ocean to another ocean across the U.S.A. solo and
unsupported. His
journey, called "P.A.C.E. Run 2006", is still the most difficult solo journey
run Paul has ever done.
What
Exactly Is A "Promise"?
A promise
is a verbal commitment by one person to one or more other
people agreeing to
do (or not to do) something in the future. Paul's fulfilling
the promise he made to his daughter and her classmates was
the driving force behind his successful U.S.A. run in 2006.
He would often recall the words of author Robert Frost,
"...I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I
sleep." In the world today there are too many people
making promises that they have no intention of keeping. Some
make promises in order to get something that they want.
Others make promises to avoid something. Whatever the reason
may be, a promise should never be made without a heart of
commitment behind it. Paul is committed to keeping this
promise if his challenge to students worldwide is met.
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A Final
P.A.C.E. Promise... |
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In autumn 2008, Paul decided
that since his mega-mileage journey runs through P.A.C.E.
began with a promise to 97 school children in his hometown, that it would only be appropriate for
him to make a final promise to each and every child around the world
that has ever participated in a P.A.C.E. Trek. Paul would
truly like to see the kids that participate in P.A.C.E. reach the
two million mile mark. So far, there have been two
P.A.C.E. Treks (Montana
and
Alaska) and
the participating 30,515 children from 10 countries have logged
a total of 160,002 miles (which is 8% of two million).
However, Paul doesn't know how long his body, or
BOB, will hold
up for doing the physically demanding P.A.C.E. journeys each
year. So, his strides through P.A.C.E. are limited. He has
personally logged 4,380 miles so far during his solo and
unsupported P.A.C.E. journeys (not including training
miles!). He hopes for several more P.A.C.E. Treks and will
complete the 2010 journey just days before his 45th
birthday.
What Is Paul's
"Two Million Mile Promise"?
If the children around the world who participate in the
annual P.A.C.E. Treks can log a combined total of two million miles or more
before Paul and BOB wear out or before June 1,
2018 (
─
whichever comes first, then Paul promises to attempt a solo
and unsupported endurance challenge that has never been done
before by anyone. In order for kids
worldwide to meet the challenge of acquiring 1,839,998 more
P.A.C.E. miles by June 1, 2018, they will need to average
204,444 miles per year during each of the nine future 3-week
P.A.C.E. Treks between the years 2010 and 2018 (and currently the treks occur one time per year).
Paul's promise is made to encourage teachers to
register teams
for free, and to motivate children worldwide to run and walk
toward improved
health and fitness through P.A.C.E.
─
and to think about the importance of setting
personal goals
and considering what is possible when you work at developing
the abilities you have. Paul's "promise" also represents a
personal "goal" for him. Will school children around the
world reach the two million mile mark by June 1, 2018? Will they make Paul
keep his promise? If so, will Paul be successful in this
extremely difficult P.A.C.E. challenge? We will
learn those answers in time.
What Would He
Attempt For This Final Challenge?
 Paul
would attempt his most challenging solo and unsupported
endurance trek through P.A.C.E. in 2019, after which he and
BOB may officially retire from P.A.C.E. journeys.
Why would Paul wait until 2019 before doing this particular journey? Because he has vowed not to attempt it until all of
his own children are raised. In 2019 Paul will be 54 years
old, married 32 years, and his children will range in age
from 19 to 26 years old. By that time, it will have been 13
years since he ran solo across America to keep a promise in
2006.
Paul would attempt to bicycle solo and
unsupported across the United States from the Delaware coast
to the Oregon Coast between April 22 and June 20, 2019
(60 days of cycling an average of 54 miles per day), and
then... a day after completing the bicycling trek... he
would attempt to run solo and unsupported from the Oregon
coast back to the Delaware coast between June 21 and October 18,
2019 (108 days of running an average of 30 miles per day).
In all, Paul would cross the continent twice within 6 months
without motorized means, a total of 6,520 miles
─
averaging over 1,000 miles per month. He plans to travel along the
same
15-state route
for both the bicycling and running portions that he followed
during his crossing of the continent in 2006.
 Also, he would
attempt to
run across the United States as fast as he did it
in 2006. School children around the globe would be able to
track Paul's progress through his online classroom
and would have opportunities to virtually trek with him as
he makes this unprecedented attempt. Although this has never
been attempted by anyone, Paul believes he has acquired the
experience needed to try this extremely difficult challenge.
This would not be a fundraising or awareness raising
journey. It would not be an undertaking for the sake of
publicity. This would be a promise trek, from beginning to
end.
So, why would Paul include bicycling into a
P.A.C.E. journey? Because bicycling is his most favorite
supplemental training technique for his running treks, and
because so many kids enjoy riding bicycles. He wants to be
able to show children that there are many adventures waiting
outside of their door... and you can experience those
adventures in a variety of active ways, not just by running
and walking. The 2019 journey may be Paul's final
P.A.C.E. Trek. He believes it would bring his work through
P.A.C.E. full circle. It all began with a promise and a trek
across America, and it could end the same way... IF the
children around the world can log two million miles
or more before Paul and BOB wear out or before
June 1, 2018
─
whichever comes first! If Paul is made to fulfill his
promise, every child who has ever participated in a P.A.C.E.
Trek will have ownership in the 2019 journey! Paul would do
it on behalf of thousands of kids worldwide who logged two
million miles!
Click To Read The Major
Challenges With Paul's 2019 Goal
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