For a total of 57 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes, Chad Caruso slid from Venice Beach, CA to Virginia Beach, VA with nothing but a backpack and his board.
According to Guinness World Records, once Caruso got there, he jubilantly flipped his board into the ocean.
Keeping one foot planted on his skateboard, the other pushing against the American pavement Chad Caruso, a United States; man travelled this way for a total of 5,088 kilometers (3,162 miles)
Cars would whizz past, bugs would fly into Caruso’s face and the soles of his sneakers would wear out, but still he trekked east towards the Atlantic.
Virginia Beach, VA would come into view, and then the ocean. Once he got there, he would rest.
Skateboarding is definitely not the fastest method of travelling domestically, but Chad was determined to win the title for the fastest crossing of America on a skateboard (male).
“As I skated up to the finish line in Virginia Beach with hundreds of people cheering me on, police escorts, and local skaters pushing alongside me, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with emotion,” said Chad.
“I kept thinking back to the teenage version of myself who dropped out of school to pursue skating and fought through all the voices telling him to quit over the years,” he continued.
“Hearing from viewers that this skate helped them leave behind drugs and alcohol and turn their lives around made every bit of foot pain I had ever felt worth it.”
A skateboarder for 25 years, Chad completed the trek to raise awareness for addiction and mental health problems, and he credits the sport with giving him an outlet for his own struggles.
Although he’s been sober for nine years now, he compares his journey with sobriety to his journey across America – not easy, but worth every step.
“Sobriety helped me turn my entire life around and brought me back to what I truly love to do,” Chad said. “I also believe that introspection and silence are essential for improving mental health, which was part of the reason I chose to do [the attempt] alone.”
Although other skaters like Jack Smith have made their way across America before, Chad is the first recorded man to do the mission by himself – a la Forrest Gump.
And when we say unaided, we mean unaided – besides his board, all he brought was a small black backpack.
“I knew that carrying something heavy on my back for 10 hours a day, two months straight, would take a toll on me,” he said.
“Funnily enough, as the trip went on, I realized I needed even less than I thought. I started shedding clothes and gear as the journey progressed.”
Although he spent ages planning out his route and tracking his movements, he knew there was only so much he could do before the journey.
He practiced building up his stamina by going for long skates in the six months leading up to his attempt and focused on his health and flexibility (particularly his knees, as he’s torn just about every ligament we’ve got).
He also rarely knew where he’d be sleeping that night until he chose a hotel on the road, and he had to refuel and recharge by accepting food and conversation from friendly strangers.
“Those short but meaningful conversations were incredibly impactful,” he said, perhaps also because they’d provide him with some warm food instead of Slim Jims and granola bars.