Ernie Andrus is on the move
Ernie Andrus stops for no one.
On Monday, the 92-year-old Navy veteran ran with a bowlegged trot on West Tennessee Street in 80-degree heat. He was trailed by a Leon County Sheriff's Office cruiser and flanked by dozens of supporters: Men with babies strapped to their chests. Couples decked out in red, white and blue socks, shorts and shirts. Everyone with an American flag.
People who wanted to get a picture of him ran backward and held out their cellphones. A television camera crew had to back peddle as they asked him questions.
At a 25-minute-a-mile pace, Andrus led the 6-mile jog from the Flying J in Midway to Capital City Hyundai on West Tennessee Street. It was part of his more than 2,500-mile run across the southern United States. By running, Andrus hopes to raise enough money to send a World War II-era naval landing ship, the LST 325, to Normandy, France, by 2019 -- what will be the 75th anniversary of the famous landing there. The LST 325, which landed on Omaha Beach that day, has been restored. It is the last of the 1,051 made during WWII that is still in operation.
It's also a complete replica of the ship Andrus, a former WWII Navy hospital corpsman, used to send troops across the Pacific into enemy territory and to bring back the injured.
His greatest memory was approaching the West Coast with a ship full of Navy men and seeing San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
"I’d look and everybody’s topside, coming home alive," he said, sweat dripping from the tip of his nose. "All the expressions, some are laughing, cheering. Some are crying, some are praying. That was a great feeling to get those guys back."
He's traveled a little more than 2,400 miles across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and other states. He has about 150 more miles to go before he reaches his destination: St. Simons Island outside Brunswick, Georgia. He's described the welcome reception awaiting him as "the world's greatest beach party."
Andrus, who is from the Los Angeles area, runs three days per week. He disposes of his Brooks running shoes every 300 miles. He's worn out eight pairs. He always takes the week of Christmas off. He sat out a week in order to receive a medal and another three weeks when his wife died.
When he finished the Memorial Day leg, the crowd surrounding him cheered and clapped. Andrus hoisted the American flag above his head before they all crammed together for a group photograph. The fact he was running on Memorial Day, he said, was a coincidence. He runs on Mondays anyway.
It appears Andrus has inspired people more than he's raised money. He admits he is far from the millions needed to bring the ship to Normandy. His website said he invested $160,000 into the trip. However, he's only raised a little more than $38,000.
"I don’t have time to raise money," he said, wearing white sweatpants and a red long sleeved T-shirt. "I’m having too much fun.”
And he is. He's making the trip mostly by himself, but he picks up supporters along the way. At one point he had 71 people running alongside him.
“It’s great. I love it," he said. “I’ve had probably a thousand or more people come on and say I’ve inspired them to get back to exercising.”
Ted Dickerson, a 65-year-old Vietnam Navy veteran from Tallahassee, said he started following Andrus' progress on Facebook. He'll run with him as he goes through Leon County.
"It's just amazing," Dickerson said. "To me, it's just a great inspiration."
Walter and Monica Clemence said they heard about Andrus through their network of runners.
“As a runner, this is kind of the dream to be that age and still doing this kind of stuff, taking on these big challenges," Monica said.
For more information on Andrus and to donate to his cause, visit Coast2CoastRuns.com.
Contact Sean Rossman atsrossman@tallahassee.com or follow@SeanRossman on Twitter.