Right around my mid to late twenties I got tired of teaching. I wanted to do something else, but I didn't know what. So I took a leave of absence. I think I was going through a depressive stage in my life. I didn't consciously say, "Well if I run, that'll get rid of the depression." I just started running, kinda like Forrest Gump. I was running a whole lot, between 20 and 40 miles a day. Then one day I was in a book store and happened to pick up a Guinness Book of World Records. I was just leafing through it and happened to open it up and it said, "John Lee of England ran across the United States in 60 days." And I thought to myself that I was running between 20 and 40 hours a day and I was teaching all day long and if I had 24 hours a day to run, I could beat that record - a crazy thought.

So I worked out for about a year and then felt like I was ready so I hit the road and my wife and I rented a Winnebago. I had the summer off because I was a teacher. My father helped me with the gasoline money. I was trying to get sponsors, but I couldn't get any money. Gatorade gave me lots of Gatorade and T-shirts and stuff and Converse shoe company gave me a lot of shoes. We also had a little money saved so we drove to New York City.

I stayed in New York for about two weeks to try and drum up some publicity but nobody wanted to have anything to do with me. They all thought I was crazy. I was calling TV and radio stations and they were all blowing me off because, of course, no one had ever heard of me and I'd never been in the Olympics or anything. I just kept telling everyone that I would be at City Hall at 6 or 8 o'clock in the morning (I can't remember what time) and I'm going to be there whether you're there or not and I'm going to run across the United States of America. When I got there that morning there were a ton of TV cameras and all kind of press and I was completely stunned. I thought they were all going to blow me off completely. The police were even there. I don't know how they got there, but they gave me an escort all the way out of the city. That felt good. I think I would have been a little disappointed and depressed if no one had shown up.

About three weeks before I took off [on the first run across America] I got a letter from Dick Gregory, the comedian and political activist, civil rights activist, anti-Vietnam protestor, the whole thing. Anyway he just flew into Columbus and told me he was planning on running across the US in 1976 for the bicentennial. He asked if I broke the record, "would you go with me and coordinate my route." So I said sure, cool.

So in '76 I ran back with him. When I came back with Dick, we weren't trying to break a record. He was trying to do spread the word and he was doing publicity stops that talked of the starving people we have in America. He was also trying to prove that you could be a vegetarian and that you didn't have to eat a lot of expensive food and still be healthy and strong and still do something like run across America.

I think to be honest I was still disappointed [with running across America] because I thought that with an effort like that, that I might see the light. And it didn't happen. Reflecting back, I learned a lot. I think sometimes - and I'm sure I can't speak for all of us - but I think sometimes when we're younger, maybe it's especially true with males, we think that if we do something spectacular enough, or if we study enough, or read enough, or do something like run across the US that we'll somehow see the light. And it didn't happen. I thought I'd run that experience and then I'd see the light and then I could sit down and be a writer because I wanted to be a writer. I didn't want to be a teacher anymore. I wanted to be a writer. It just didn't happen the way I expected it.

I think what we do as young men, or at least some of us, is that we put our expectations too high concerning some things that may be philosophical, spiritual, or even romance. I was even disappointed in my first marriage because it wasn't "romantic" enough. It wasn't enough for me. Nothing was enough until I finally got some maturity under my belt. I think eventually I said to myself, "Look, you are who you are and that's good enough, and that's going to have to do." I don't know if it's my background or what, but I have this drive to be a champion. I was city and district champion in wrestling and I have this drive to succeed all the time. For some reason I had this personality where I was always expecting too much out of myself.

Success for me personally is being loved by my children, loving my children, knowing that I'm a good father, enjoying being a teacher, and being as ethical as I know how to be, and accepting everyone for exactly who they are. I try... it's not always easy, I'm learning to love everyone unconditionally. You are who you are. Sometimes we want to change people. I don't want anybody telling me what to do or how to change so I don't want to do that to anybody else. I haven't been very successful in some of my relationships and to be honest with you, I think it's partially because I've been with some women who want me to be different. I just don't want to live in a life with those kind of expectations.

I feel very comfortable on the path I'm on. I did have some spiritual awakenings when I was a young man and I think that maybe my problem was that I wanted more and more and more of those spiritual awakenings. I think that God gives you as many as you need and basically I was trying to be a hog. I want more. I want more spiritual awakenings. One of my spiritual awakening was coming to terms with the fact that I really couldn't believe in the Bible as the literal translation of the word of God as I was taught. I was taught that and I was going to be a Southern Baptist minister. Finally after much praying and reading and philosophizing I came to terms with myself. I said to myself, "Gordon, I guess you're just going to have to go to Hell." That was very freeing. I wasn't sure at the time, I had had 18 years of indoctrination, and that was a nice revelation. I like the path I'm on. I'd like to have more money [Laughs].

I say that, but I feel that materialism is one of the worst curses of mankind. I've got too much stuff now. I keep wanting to go home and throw it away. You've got your computer and TV and stereos here and I sometimes think that this is insane. Sometimes I wish I could get a little home in the country without all of the things. I'd like to simplify my life more. I think many of us are driving ourselves crazy with too much stimuli. Heck I certainly enjoy my TV and all of those things, but I think a lot of us could be a whole lot happier without all of it. Spiritually and physically we sometimes need to touch the Earth more.

I would say [the key elements of success are] being ethical, and not just to certain people but to all people. Of course I'd have to put unconditional love in there. Forgiveness, is a real strong part of that core. Get over it and let it go. And self-love. Learn to love yourself and really dig who you are. You can't be anything different then who you are.

I think the main thing I'd tell people struggling with their path is to be still. That's the first thing. I would suggest you pay attention to the little things. The old adage that you need to stop and smell the roses is 100% true. The little niceties in life are the things that make you healthy and happy. Be kind to each other and be kind to yourself.