Teeples ‘strolling’ across Georgia

Sometime Tuesday night, John Teeples and George Gurrola will push a baby stroller into Savannah.

For five days and 260 miles, Teeples and Gurrola have pushed the stroller they dubbed “Jenny Wilson” — more on that later — down highways and rural roads charting the path for this week’s Run Across Georgia. Each mile, they have stopped and marked the route with American flags that have a story of a hero affixed.

Wednesday morning before dawn, seven individual runners will start in Savannah and run the 260-mile course back into downtown Columbus. Saturday morning teams of as many as 10 runners will start in Savannah and relay across the state. There are even a handful of cyclists joining the annual rolling salute to heroes.

By Sunday night, the eighth Run Across Georgia should be done and Teeples, the founder and heart and soul of the event, hopes to raise almost $100,000 for the Chattahoochee Valley Chapter of The House of Heroes, Make-A-Wish Georgia and Camp Abilities. And the bulk of the money will come in small amounts from family and friends of those running.

But for now, Teeples, an ultra marathon runner, and Gurrola, who got talked into tagging along, are out on the road, unsupported and having a blast.

“This is so much fun,” Teeples said Monday morning before 9 when he had already clocked 17 miles, with Vidalia in his wake and Claxton the goal before the end of the day.

It’s fun because of the flags and Jenny Wilson.

“As we put the flags out, the people are being so kind,” Teeples said. “They are asking a lot of questions and really are interested.”

The first flag was planted early Friday morning at the south end of Broadway, not far from Golden Park. Since then, they have been planted every mile across south Georgia.

The flags all carry a story about a hero. It could be a warrior or a child fighting cancer or some other illness. As Teeples has broadened the effort this year, he has also broadened the definition of a hero.

“The tag line in the past has been ‘run for the heroes,’” Teeples said. “This year, we are calling it ‘run for the flag.’ We got all sorts of heroes in all sorts of different places. We wanted to change it a little bit.”

Teeples is playing a greater role in organizing the event this year, so if he wanted to get in his annual run, he had to do it a week early. And he came up with the idea to mark the course in reverse.

Which brings us to “Jenny Wilson,” because if you don’t have a support vehicle, you have to have a way to carry 260 American flags. A Facebook contest produced the name.

“Jenny” comes from the girlfriend in the movie “Forrest Gump.” Keeping with the Tom Hanks theme, “Wilson” comes from the ball that was Hanks’ friend in the movie “Cast Away.”

Nice.

But Teeples has discovered that “Jenny Wilson” may be the best running partner he has ever had.

“When people see you running along the highway pushing a stroller, they think there is a baby inside,” Teeples said. “So they slow down and give you plenty of room.”

Sometimes motorists can be aggressive and rude when a runner or cyclist is on the road.

Not when you are pushing a stroller, Teeples said.

“Nobody has given me a finger,” Teeples said. “Even the dogs are nicer and don’t seem as aggressive when they see the stroller,” Teeples said.

It’s magic. Just like the Run Across Georgia.

And that is what will happen all weekend as runners wind their way back to Columbus for a party that starts Sunday afternoon at 4 in the 1000 block of Broadway.

If you want to find the party, just look for the baby stroller.

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Teeples ‘strolling’ across Georgia."