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06/02/2024 10:04 PMFor many of us, we need that extra instance of motivation to get the first foot moving when it comes to exercise and physical fitness. For one local resident, he has truly been a benefactor of being physical while taking quite a journey to honor fallen heroes who have fought for our freedoms.
Tanner Kern, a 26-year-old resident of Essex, recently completed a 220-mile charity run with his cousin, Jordan Tucker, that began on May 12. They ran 220 miles from Boston to New York for over a week, averaging out to 31 miles daily. The two did it for Tunnel to Towers (T2T).
T2T has been helping America’s heroes by providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children, and by building specially adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders.
Kern’s cousin is a former drug addict who used running to overcome addiction, and now he wants to give back by completing these self-started charity runs. The tandem also ran 220 miles from Canada to Connecticut during the pandemic in a week.
With his cousin, Kern was on the journey for a total of over 50 hours for the week-long trek and averaged a mile time of about 13 and a half minutes.
“I lost 140 pounds through running, and I also now use it as a vehicle to give back. In addition to the Canada to CT run, I ran 100 miles on a treadmill in 27 hours for mental illness awareness,” said Kern. “In 2020, my cousin and I ran 260 miles from Canada to Connecticut for Foodshare. We raised nearly $20,000 during the pandemic and had a great time along the way. We realized how much we enjoyed helping people in need. We knew we wanted to do another massive run, and Boston to NY was on our mind because of Tunnel to Towers. I love the country, and the reason it’s the greatest in the world is because of our military and first responders. It was the perfect pairing for the route and the charity.”
Seeing so many landmarks and sights, including those from September 11, motivated Kern to push past any pain and power through any adversity–including some added from Mother Nature.
“The most memorable sight, outside of the 9-11 Memorial in New York, was running all over Long Island. We were there on days 4, 5, and 6,” said Kern. “It rained the entire time for the first two days on the island, but the terrain was beautiful, and it was also flat. There were a lot of hills the first few days, which really killed our legs.”
While it may have only lasted seven days, Kern trained for this marathon movement months in advance, dating back to the beginning of the year. He harnessed the adrenaline from his past sabbaticals to ignite his confidence heading into this one.
“I trained for 20 weeks with short runs six days a week and then a long run on Sundays. There weren’t many days off,” said Kern. “My peak weekly mileage was 70, but most weeks I was around 60 miles. I definitely could have trained more, but my legs felt good throughout the week. It helped knowing that I have done the distance before; this was more helpful than the training.”
The sport of running has given so much to Kern, including an incredible life-altering transformation that has been for the betterment of his mental and physical health.
“I used to weigh 340 pounds. While I didn’t use running to lose all the 140 pounds I dropped, it has definitely helped me keep weight off,” said Kern. “Running helps assure me that I’m never going back to being overweight. It also calms me down and makes me more productive during the day because I know I can relax and eat!”
Kern’s running mate was a tremendous source of passion and motivation. As he put the pedal to the metal to drop pounds, his cousin utilized the benefits of physical fitness to power past addiction and forge a better path for himself.
“My cousin is my biggest inspiration for running. I would have never gotten into running like I did without my cousin,” said Kern. “He was a heroin addict who used running to overcome addiction. When he ran his second marathon at Disney in 2019, I ran the 5K during their marathon weekend. We spent the whole weekend talking about running and, after that, I decided I was going to run the marathon next year.”
From there, Kern caught the bug to run and took part in events around the Nutmeg State alongside one of his closest family members. He is marveled and amazed daily when he sees the metamorphosis that has taken place in his cousin, and he is pleased with both the money raised for T2T and spending time doing what he loves with the people he loves.
“I did that 5K and ran the Hartford Marathon a few months before, and my cousin was right by my side,” said Kern. “While he runs more than I could ever imagine, his transition from a heroin addict to an elite ultra runner is unbelievable. I’m very glad the charity benefited, but selfishly, getting to run the distance with my cousin was my favorite part of the week.”