RIT Runners Trek Across the Country in Continuous Relay Run

In commemoration of Rochester Institute of Technology’s 175th anniversary, a group of RIT runners will trek across the United States in a 2,730-mile continuous relay run.

The Coast-to-Coast run features current members and alumni of the RIT men’s and women’s cross country team. The run kicks off on Nov. 17 near San Diego, Calif., at the Pacific Ocean and ends on Dec. 1 in Annapolis, Md., at the Atlantic Ocean.

Eighteen runners will complete the 14-day event—each running a two-mile interval, then resting for 3.5 hours before joining the relay again.

The 1979 coast-to-coast run, celebrating RIT’s 150th Anniversary was completed in 14 days, 4 hours, and 8 minutes. The team expects to improve the RIT record for such an event, which at the time was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The cross country trek starts at La Jolla Shores beach, at sea level, and continues across the continent, through Phoenix, Ariz., Albuquerque, N.M., Amarillo, Texas, Topeka, Kan., under the Gateway to the West in St. Louis, Miss., Cincinnati, Ohio, to Arlington National Cemetery and past the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The run finishes at the Chesapeake Bay at Sandy Point State Park outside of Annapolis, Md.

To stay updated on the runners’ progress, visit www.ritcoasttocoastrun.com. To get in touch with the team, contact Dave Warth, men’s cross country coach, at 585-475-6666 or djwatl@rit.edu, or Todd Spivak, on-the-road media contact, at 845-797-9608 or tes7088@rit.edu.

Numbers behind the run:

• 18 runners: 16 men, 2 women
• Runners will spend Thanksgiving on the road, somewhere west of St. Louis
• Each runner runs two miles at a time
• Runners will average 14 minutes for their two-mile segment
• Rest time between runs is about 3.5 hours
• Each runner will complete about 6 runs and 12 miles per day
• The distance for each runner is 85 miles per week, 170 miles total for the trip
• The team will travel through 13 states and the District of Columbia
• The runners will sleep in two RVs that will travel along the route

Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized as a leader in computing, engineering, imaging technology, fine and applied arts, and education of the deaf. More than 15,300 full- and part-time students are enrolled in RIT’s 340 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

For well over a decade, U.S. News and World Report has ranked RIT among the nation’s leading comprehensive universities. The Princeton Review recognizes RIT as one of America’s “Most Wired Campuses,” and the university is also featured in The Fiske Guide to Colleges and Barron’s Best Buys in Education.