Hi everyone, I’m the HPM flag and I just returned from an amazing trek through parts of Uganda and Rwanda. In honor of the countries I visited, my temporary name - instead of the boring English word “flag” – is Ebendera (in Luganda, one of the Ugandan languages) or Ibendera (in Kinyarwanda language, one of the Rwandan languages). I’ll answer to either one!

Kallup McCoy II is a proud Native American and an active member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Throughout his 39 laps around the sun, he has experienced the highs of elite finishes at marathons across the country and lows of cripplingly drug addiction and multiple stints in jail. Kallup just crossed the Mississippi River into Tennessee on his quest to run across the country to raise money for he and his wife’s non-profit RezHOPE Recovery and Consulting.

His story of determination and inspiring effort on this Transcontinental run is something that we are honored to share with the HPM audience as we aim to inspire move activity in people’s lives and support those doing incredible work in their communities.

Kallup and his wife gave us a few precious minutes between daily runs to share a bit more about his backstory, the inspiration for this deeply meaningful run and long-term vision for RezHOPE. 

A bunch of middle-aged guys and self-proclaimed “Goatbusters” (a former F3 Blue Ridge Relay team name that referenced BRR’s toughest segments, dubbed “mountain goats”) plan a group adventure every year. It’s designed to be challenging, full of fellowship, and proudly CSAUP (aka: Completely Stupid And Utterly Pointless).
 
Doing something difficult together, gives us that shared pain … and something to reminisce about until we do the next one. Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim of the Grand Canyon, Presidential Traverse in New England, Four Pass Loop in Colorado and the Grand Teton Loop in Wyoming have all been crossed off the list. This year we hit Utah’s Zion National Park and it did not disappoint.