Ossining Native to Run Across America

On March 28, distance runner Phil King will embark on a cross-country run, from Delaware to California, to raise awareness and funds for suicide prevention. Two years ago Phil lost both his mother and his best friend to suicide. “My goal is to help eliminate the stigma that surrounds suicide and mental illness—to change shame and guilt into love and compassion,” said Phil.

Phil, 33, was born in Ossining, NY, and grew up there and in Putnam Valley, NY until his family moved to Illinois when he was 12. He now makes his home in Crystal Lake, IL. His parents, Dan King and Lisa (Kurak) King both grew up in Ossining and graduated from Ossining High School in 1975.

“When I lost my mother and my best friend, I turned to running to get through the tough times. A few months back, I decided I wanted to find a way where running all those miles could help somebody other than myself,” he said. He will be running the northern portion of the American Discovery Trail, a total of 4,803 miles. King plans to average 180 miles per week — about 6 marathons a week for about 27 weeks, until the end of October. The Run for Lisa King, Phil’s personal campaign, supports The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

“His mom deserves to be honored. For Phil to show his love for her and his friend like this is really amazing,” said his father Dan King. “He’s been running for a long time, and this is a great way for Phil to keep alive the memory of people who left us too soon.”

Lisa King started her career at Mearl Corporation in Ossining, and then worked her way up as an organic chemist in the Honeywell Corporation. Despite having only a high school diploma, Lisa’s name is on over 20 patents.

Phil’s run responds to suicide, death and grief with a life-affirming adventure that helps others along the way. “The first thing I had to do was build confidence. I need to believe in myself and know that I can do this. But, I can’t know until I’ve done it for a while. That’s why I’ve logged as many miles as possible,” said Phil. “I’ve run a few races in the past, but I’ve run over 200 solo marathons where its just me, a water bottle and my GPS watch. Over the past year I’ve tried to log as many 100-plus-mile weeks as I can to build up a strong base.”

“I’ve significantly slowed my pace from when I used to race. My training pace is now 7.5- to 8-minute miles, compared to when I raced and the training pace was under 6 minutes,” says Phil. He finished his last training marathon in 3:14, but on the trip across the US, by pacing himself and stopping to talk to people, he expects 26 miles will take him up to 6 hours. On the trip, “I’m going to start with a marathon a day,” said Phil. “Barring injury, I expect to get stronger along the route. Maybe after the mountains of West Virginia, in Ohio, I’ll start tacking on a few extra miles a day.”

Phil sees running on the American Discovery Trail as “a huge opportunity to connect with people. I’ll have a lot of time when I’m not running, and I plan to use that time to have conversations with as many people as possible about my adventure and my cause.” The trail goes through 15 states, through small towns and large cities, through local parks and national parks, and through true wilderness. “Every single day I’m going to be somewhere that I’ve never been before,” says Phil. He’ll pass wonderful sites such as The US Naval Academy, Lincoln’s boyhood home, Buffalo Bill’s home, Lake Tahoe and the Golden Gate Bridge. He’ll see the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, mountains, prairies, big rivers and the desert.

He’s preparing for all of it. “I’m going to let the climate and weather dictate the time of day that I run. I have to let go of the idea of running when I want to run. In the desert I may have to start at 3:00 AM, in the dark, so I can be done before it gets to 100 degrees,” said Phil. He expects to go through about 16 pair of running shoes. “I’ll need all the foot support I can get, so I’m going to cap off each pair at about 300 miles.”

Phil will get support along the trail from several sources. His friend Steve will accompany him the entire trip, driving an RV, shopping for food and water, dropping Phil off at the right spot each day and meeting him at predetermined destinations. Members of local chapters of The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will lend support, as well as local Rotary chapters. “I’m buying a bicycle,” said Dan King, “so I can join him at various stages of his run.”

In his run for The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Phil hopes to set an example. “Of course this will be difficult, there will be injuries and other problems, but even as I go through pain and doubt, I’m going to get up every day and run. I’m going to tough it out and keep going. I hope to give inspiration to people who are suffering.”

If you’d like to help Phil King with his run across America, or help the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, please visit runforlisaking.org where you can donate or help spread the word.

You can follow Phil’s progress on Facebook Runforlisaking.org; on Twitter @runforlisaking; and on Instagram runforlisaking. “I plan to be on social media at a borderline obnoxious level,” says Phil.