How many mpw did Forrest Gump run when he ran across the USA?

When people yell 'Run Forrest Run' at us while we are out running, we should be proud to be associated with such a great man in running history.

joho wrote:

When people yell 'Run Forrest Run' at us while we are out running, we should be proud to be associated with such a great man in running history.

Proud or not, the reason they yell that is because Forrest Gump is the only runner they could name off the top of their heads. I bet more people associate Forrest Gump with running than any other human that has ever existed.

I like this thread.

A website made of GOLD wrote:

Okay, so this can be figured out... Most of you didn't pay very close attention to the scene (with the exception of "details details details"), which is sad.

I think it is difficult to state exactly how far he ran, but using the information and landmarks that we do have, his overall trip was probably around 13,600 miles with an average mpw of ~82.

One major detail you overlooked, which I posted on letsrun several years ago, is the total time of the run.

Forrest claims to run for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours.

At the beginning of his run, he passes the barbershop and there's a news blurb mentioning President Jimmy Carter had passed out in Maryland due to heat exhaustion.

When Forrest gets home from running, he gets Jenny's letter and the TV news announces that President Reagan had been shot.

Jimmy Carter collapsed in Maryland on September 15, 1979. Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley on March 30, 1981. That's only 1 year, 6 months, and 15 days (or 562 total days), not even half of what Forrest claims. So maybe his mpw was more like ~170.

Maybe he had Tivoed the news and was just catching up?

A. Nachronism wrote:

Maybe he had Tivoed the news and was just catching up?

I see what you did with your little username there. Nice.

Just because I feel like playing:

The scene with the smiley face shirt when he gets hit with the mud puddle was shot on eastbound I 40 about 40 miles west of flagstaff. The scene with the Sh!t happens bumper sticker, was shot in downtown flagstaff on San Francisco street (which was obviously a wrong turn since that street heads north and dead ends two miles later at the elks lodge.)

I don't think we calculated wrong turns into this, which could significantly up his total mileage.

Tube clip for the running sub-plot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWzbCk18wTw

Ooops. I forgot the all important comment...no, no I didn't.

fact checker wrote:

One major detail you overlooked, which I posted on letsrun several years ago, is the total time of the run.

Forrest claims to run for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours.

At the beginning of his run, he passes the barbershop and there's a news blurb mentioning President Jimmy Carter had passed out in Maryland due to heat exhaustion.

When Forrest gets home from running, he gets Jenny's letter and the TV news announces that President Reagan had been shot.

Jimmy Carter collapsed in Maryland on September 15, 1979. Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley on March 30, 1981. That's only 1 year, 6 months, and 15 days (or 562 total days), not even half of what Forrest claims. So maybe his mpw was more like ~170.

Nice! Weird that they would miss such an obvious error...

Strong post. Strong.

A website made of GOLD wrote:

Nice! Weird that they would miss such an obvious error...

It wasn't an error. Forrest couldn't do math. He was an Alabama graduate.

fact checker wrote:

A website made of GOLD wrote:

Nice! Weird that they would miss such an obvious error...

It wasn't an error. Forrest couldn't do math. He was an Alabama graduate.

BURN!!!!

Given his mental uneasiness at this point of his life and his single-minded resolve, would he bother with shaving? Would you say his beard looks to be a year old and not 3 years old?

But you can't cross the Mississippi four times and hit the coasts too, along with side-trips to just follow a road and to go wherever his heart leads, in less than the noted 3 year timeframe...

Great thread. Thanks to the posters who have done the work calculating his trip and the mileage.

"I wish I could have been there with you."

"You were."

Perhaps we should conduct an experiment. We should take runs in 20 different cities unfamiliar to us and attempt to run a loop or point to point or something that involves navigation that is directional base. We then collect data from wrong turns, dead ends, and detours find the average, and then apply this formula to forest's mileage.

redux wrote:

Tube clip for the running sub-plot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWzbCk18wTw

That six minutes has caused millions of people to yell "Run Forrest Run" at distance runners. He actually didn't get yelled at in that scene, but that's the one that makes people yell it at us.

where were you wounded son wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISJ0VsnCvDo&feature=related

"I wish I could have been there with you."

"You were."

I can't say that video didn't just choke me up at work.

ronner wrote:

redux wrote:

Tube clip for the running sub-plot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWzbCk18wTw

That six minutes has caused millions of people to yell "Run Forrest Run" at distance runners. He actually didn't get yelled at in that scene, but that's the one that makes people yell it at us.

You obviously have never seen the movie.

At the Universal Citywalk (LA) there's a map outside of the Bubba Gump's showing his route. I was going to take a photo of it, but didn't. I now regret it.