77-year-old Swedish ultrarunner completes his ninth run across America

On Thursday night, 77-year-old Swedish ultrarunner Björn Suneson dipped his feet into the Atlantic Ocean on a deserted beach in Sayreville, N.J. Apart from Suneson, his son Erik and a photographer, no one in Sayreville knew the magnitude of what had just happened—it was his ninth solo transcontinental run across America.

In his final blog post, Suneson wrote: “With two feet in the Atlantic Ocean and a short swim, my ninth coast-to-coast [run] is finished. Is this a ‘world record’? Since it is not a competition, it may not be a real record, but no one in the world has run so many times across America.”

This journey, he writes, was the toughest yet, highlighted by extreme weather, injuries and a few frightening moments on the road. Over 105 days, he covered nearly 5,000 kilometres, running from the Pacific Ocean in Lincoln City, Ore., to Sadowski Parkway Waterfront Park in New Jersey. Suneson’s first U.S. transcontinental run was in 2007 at 59, when he ran 95 days solo from Florence, Ore., to Virginia Beach, Va.

71-year-old Swede completes his seventh run across US

“I’ve been running every day despite a long-term inflammation in a tendon behind my knee,” Suneson wrote. “Luckily, I haven’t had any pain lately and recovered.”

Averaging 47 kilometres a day, Suneson even survived what he called a near-death experience in Wyoming, when a distracted driver came within “millimetres” of hitting him on the shoulder of the road.

Throughout the run, he posted daily updates and reflections on his blog. For Suneson, these transcontinental crossings are not about charity, records or media attention. He says they are simply just “a fun adventure,” and a way to experience America beyond the tourist spots.

In his own way, he’s like a modern-day Forrest Gump, only with a blog instead of a beard.