Meet the real Forrest Gump
With Oscar nominations around us, what a time to get to know Rhym Williams, the man who resembling the character played by Tom Hanks.
Forrest Gump crossed the United States from coast to coast in a journey that lasted three years. Rhym Williams has set an even more monumental goal: to circumnavigate the world on a pair of shoes (or several!). Starting from his home in Rockhampton, Australia, the idea is to run multiple marathons in every country possible.
The 35-year-old runner, who bears a strong physical resemblance to the character portrayed by Tom Hanks, has started by traversing his own country (8,749 miles / 14,080 km in 1,817 days) using the sports app Run the World. Every meter he covers physically, Williams runs on the asphalt of the city in Queensland.
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“Run, Forrest, run”
“Wherever I go, I do it running; people shout at me, ‘Run, Forrest, run,’” he explains in an interview with a local media outlet. “As I got older, the five kilometers turned into ten, then a half marathon, followed by a marathon, and now ultramarathons.
“I even run for entire days if possible.”
Williams continued by explaining about the difference between solo running and doing so with company.
“When I’m running alone, I try to completely disconnect and listen to my body. When I run in a group, I don’t think much,” he says. Currently, the ‘Australian Forrest Gump’ is in Canada and already has more countries in mind, although he hasn’t revealed which one is next.
Keep your eyes open...