Drivers traveling on Tuckaseegee Road last Wednesday may have come across a curious sight -- dozens of students from Wilson Middle School, all out for a morning run.

The occasion: A visit to the school by Jonathon Prince, a 29-year-old Las Vegas man who set out last fall to run from California to Washington, D.C.

Prince, founder of an organization called “Hope or Die,” said he wants his cross-country trek to be an inspiration to people facing trials in their lives.

“I’m out here running every single day trying to inspire people to choose hope,” he told Qcitymetro.com during a stop in Charlotte. “There’s a lot going on in the economy. There’s a lot going on in the world. Hope or die – it’s the reality for a lot of people out there.”

Prince said he graduated from Clark Atlanta University and is not a professional athlete. He said he began running in 1999 while dating a woman who woke him up at 5:30 each morning to run with her.

He has run cross-country twice before, he said, logging in a total of more than 7,500 miles. His first run, in 2005, was started to raise awareness aboutf relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina. In 2006 he ran from Atlanta to New York to mark the one-year anniversary of the devastating storm.

“Something happened in my life when Hurricane Katrina hit,” he told students at Wilson Middle. “I couldn’t let the people who lost everything be left alone. I had go do my part. I had to do something... So I decided to get my Forrest Gump on and run from California all the way to Atlanta, and reach the Gulf Coast and meet the Gulf Coast victims firsthand and let them know that someone out here cares.”

Prince said his current run began October 15, 2009, from the Santa Monica Pier near Los Angeles. He plans to end in Washington, D.C., on April 10. He said he hopes that President Obama or first lady Michelle Obama will come out and run the last mile with him.

Some days, Prince said, he puts in 25 miles or more, the equivalent of a marathon. He stops to rest for days at a time in hotel rooms donated by major chains. Even his shoes and running gear are donated by sponsors.

During his stops, Prince visits schools and talks to students about his mission and the importanc of using their own talents and passions to better the world.

At Wilson Middle, Prince encouraged the students to stay in school and to commit their lives to setting and achieving goals.

“There is something that happens when you commit,” he said. “The universe opens up to you when you decide what you want to be or have and stay committed to it.”

As for being a black man who runs cross-country preaching a message of hope, Prince acknowledges the oddity.

“I wanted to break the mold,” he told Qcitymetro. “You can reach so much farther than the limits you’ve put on yourself, or what society tells you you can do. That’s why I’m so extremely proud to be in this position, to make history, to make black history, and be some form of outlet for the kids.”
 

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