By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

It’s not everyday that a national phenomenon takes place in New York Mills, but it certainly rolled—or walked—rather, as Noah Coughlan made his way from Wadena to Perham last Friday. He is running the last of a 15-year and six-part run to cross all 50 United States on foot carrying the American flag and a message of unity.  

¶  Coughlan has completed four other runs around the United States, three of which were to raise awareness for those with rare diseases and another as a tribute to American military veterans. This final run is his farewell tribute to the American people in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. His plan is to complete the remaining five states by the Fourth of July.  ¶  “I went into this run with the attitude that this is my last run,” said Coughlan. “As an athlete, I want to finish the final 14 states, 5,500 miles. For me, I don’t get much out of it—it’s life experience, it’s an adventure—but it’s a proper way to wrap up this 15-year project, not knowing I was going across all 50 states. Clearly there is an impact being made. I think the best was to describe it is ‘organic,’ and I’m seeing this from ocean to ocean across America. So that should tell you something about how people view the project, which is nonpolitical, it’s simply about our fundamental existence as Americans. It’s historic, it ends on July 4th as part of America’s 250th birthday.”

“It’s less about the running and more about the people. My message is one that we have a lot more in common than we do apart.”

Coughlan said that the run is also about encouraging unity. He acknowledged that many didn’t share the same opinion and certainly have differences of opinion, but that the similarities amongst the people of America are much closer than what divides us.

“The flag is something bigger than me and you, it’s something that’s bigger than all of us,” Coughlan said. “All of the history of our very existence. So I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew that this was more of a farewell tribute to the American people, but going into it with pure intentions—there’s no narrative here, there’s no agenda other than me trying to make it one last time. I remind Americans that we are all one people, and we have a lot more in common than we do apart.”

Along the way, Coughlan said his favorite part of his journey so far has been meeting and interacting with the public. As he stopped on Highway 10 going through NY Mills, he stopped and crossed the median to visit with the high school students who had gathered along the fence line to encourage him along the way.

“This is a very unique life experience for me,” he said. “You can see it meant a lot to the kids, something they’ll always remember. We have sheriff’s deputies and the chief of police, and you can see they respect what’s happening. I think my favorite part is actually the unscripted nature of it. I didn’t know what to expect when I woke up, I didn’t know I was going to be surrounded by a flock of high schoolers.

“When you can see from town to town, literally over the course of 5,500 miles, whether it’s chiefs of police or schools, this is capturing the American spirit,” he continued. “It’s just something special, it’s not divisive, it’s not political, and it’s just being able to meet with veterans and school kids. The reality is the one thing we have in common is the American flag, that’s our very existence.”

As Coughlan makes his way down the Highway 10 corridor towards Fargo and the West Coast, he looks forward to clearing North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and then finally Alaska and Hawaii.

“I’m looking forward to the finish to be honest,” he said. “It’s one last chance to do it and the whole story is about America’s 250th birthday, it has to be by July 4th, so that’s what I’m looking forward to.”