Women from Harlem are running to Washington DC

The title character in Forrest Gump gains national attention when he embarks on a coast-to-coast running journey that ends up lasting three years, two months, 14 days and 16 hours. “That day, for no particular reason,” Gump says in the 1994 film, “I decided to go for a little run.” Unlike the fictional character, four New York City women have a very particular purpose for soon setting out on a feat of endurance that won’t come close to Gump’s, but will be most impressive nonetheless. On 18 January, they will lace up their sneakers on a corner in their Harlem neighborhood and begin pacing themselves through a minimum of 240 miles, before reaching their destination: the National Mall in Washington DC. In total, they aim to complete the equivalent of more than nine marathons in less than three days—by 10am on 21 January—when thousands of Americans are expected to participate in the Women’s March to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. During their scheduled 64-hour journey, the women will hustle on side roads and bike paths through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and DC, and run each mile between nine and 12 minutes.