A man in Washington, DC, went the extra mile on Friday to see his beloved grandma who lives over 200 miles away in Pennsylvania.
When the coronavirus shutdown began in March, ultramarathoner Corey Cappelloni called his 98-year-old grandmother, Ruth Andres, every other day at her nursing home to check on her, according to WDSU.
“She’s 98, turning 99 in December,” he said. “When I called, I could tell she was becoming depressed and worried, saying things like, ‘If I never see you again.’ It was sad. She would cry and this was hard because she had always been there for me.”
At first, Cappelloni felt helpless to do anything to make her feel better, so he began sending her gifts such as photography books of the places he traveled to in the past.
Still, he wanted to do more and that was when his girlfriend came up with the idea for him to run all the way to Scranton to visit her through a window.
That idea turned into a seven day ultramarathon fundraiser called Run for Ruth to buy technology and equipment for her nursing and rehab center to help keep residents in touch with their families.
Although Ruth contracted the coronavirus just before Cappelloni’s journey began, she recovered not long after.
“I knew she was going to fight all the way through. People asked if I wanted to move up the date of the run, but I didn’t want to concede,” he said.
After running 220 miles, Cappelloni arrived on Friday and was greeted by a cheering crowd.
He spoke to his grandmother via a microphone and speakers as she listened and responded to him over the phone from her fourth floor bedroom.
“Hey Nana, can you hear me? I made it. I love you so much,” he told her.
Later, Cappelloni said he did not think there was a race he could do that would be more memorable than his recent one.
“I think this will be the highlight of my running career,” he concluded.