Don Muchow was a dreamer. He wished of becoming the first person to run from Disneyland in California to Walt Disney World, Florida.
In case you’re wondering, this journey is roughly 2,761 miles; and will take you through 8 different states. On Monday, the 59 year old runner and Ironman, reached his destination of the Magic Kingdom. He is the country’s first Type 1 Diabetic to do so.
Don Muchow Interview
When interviewed, Muchow said, “I was diagnosed in 1972. Back then, there were no glucose meters and doctors knew the risks of low blood sugar. My doctor told me not to exercise and I followed those instructions for 42 years.”
“Many of us, you know, want to be active, we want to be healthy, want to avoid complications but there are complications to avoiding complications, and I wanted to help people who were living with the disease see that there are safe ways to do even epic things,” he said.
“I have a friend of mine, and when I was explaining the transcontinental run, and he’s a huge Disney fan. He said basically, ‘Well are you running from Disneyland to Walt Disney World?’” Muchow explained. “A little light bulb went on in my head and I said, ‘I don’t think anyone’s ever done that– let’s go look it up,’ and no one had. So to me it made it special, to kind of help fulfill a dream of his and it’s always been a dream of mine to run across the country.”
Don Muchow ran an estimated 32 miles from sun up to sunset. And he rested every 10 days. He made it to Florida on March 27th. As part of his trip, Don wanted to dip his toes in both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.
When his run is finally over, he is planning a more relaxed (and well deserved) trip to the Magic Kingdom. You can click here to learn more about his journey, or visit his website here.