"I love you, Tom."
On a life-changing day in 1978, then 46-year-old Kaneohe Marine Tom Knoll had crossed the finish line of a 250-mile run in Okinawa. Waiting for him was 10-year-old Megumi Nakata, supporting herself on crutches, one of several children who benefited from Knoll’s hospital charity run.
Knoll’s resolve had flagged at the 240-mile mark. "While I was high on the hype beforehand," he said, "I told the guy I was running with that I’ll never do this again. But that changed once I came across the finish line."
As he knelt down to receive Megumi’s embrace, she uttered the message of love that continues to inspire the long-distance runner 34 years later and has driven him to raise more than a million dollars for charity and participate in 197 marathons.
Drawing on the physical and mental discipline he learned as a member of Force Recon (the Marines’ version of the Navy SEALs), the Honolulu resident is going to do what he says will be one last "victory lap" across the mainland.
Knoll is preparing for his third solo cross-country run starting Mondayin New Orleans where he will follow the Mississippi River and end July 16 in International Falls, Minn., on the Canadian border, with promotional stops in Memphis, Tenn.; St. Louis; and Minneapolis.
This time 79-year-old Knoll will run to raise funds for 3-year-old Kaira Langley, who has cerebral palsy, and 19 other kids from the Sunshine Foundation, a nonprofit wish-granting organization which Knoll supported on his first cross-country run in 1983.
Other charities he will be raising funds for include the Wounded Warrior Project, the Rotary Club of Downtown Honolulu and the V Foundation, in memory of the North Carolina State University basketball coach Jim Valvano.
On a recent morning in Kapiolani Park, he was wearing a yellow T-shirt from the 1978 Ironman Triathlon, where, only two months after the Okinawa run, he was one of the original 12 entrants who completed the course.
Knoll plans to run more than 30 miles a day with a support van traveling about five miles ahead of him.
"The running’s the easiest part," Knoll said. "The tough part’s planning and organizing these kinds of runs, both before and during."
Well, that and the occasional bad weather during these long runs. He’s had to battle through hail and lightning storms and reroute to avoid tornadoes.
Despite his many journeys cross-country, the Milwaukee-born Knoll has called Hawaii home since 1996.
"I’m kamaaina full force."
To sponsor Knoll on his run, visit www.sunshinefoundation.org/2012tomknollrun.html.
