MEMPHIS, Tenn. – There’s a sense of urgency in every one of Ken Brock’s steps as he continues his incredible 2,664-mile walk to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
He’s been slowed by a head cold and …
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – There’s a sense of urgency in every one of Ken Brock’s steps as he continues his incredible 2,664-mile walk to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
He’s been slowed by a head cold and severe weather. And while he’s already completed 686 miles since he left Amvets Post 86 in Keystone Heights on Feb. 1, he knows there still are 1,978 miles to go.
“I’m behind,” he said Wednesday morning as approached Memphis, just ahead of another round of thunderstorms. “But once I get past Memphis, it should smooth out. I plan to average 30 miles a day to get back on track. Trying to stay ahead of these storms in real motivation.”
Brock is making the walk with his service dog, Pam, to bring awareness to Wounded Warrior Project. He said the Jacksonville-based organization helped him deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, which empowered him to venture beyond is confined level of comfort.
The walk has created a lot of challenges. But Brock keeps marching.
“I had a head cold over the weekend,” he said. “But when I started feeling the symptoms, I got right on it. This is the last place you want to be sick.”
Then there’s the weather.
He was in the middle of the tornado breakout two weekends ago that killed 23 people in Alabama. The weather was so dangerous, he was forced to take refuse in Eufaula, Ala., for four days. He was leaving Alabama last weekend when another deadly line of storms passed through.
“I want to average 500 miles a month so I can get to Coeur d’Alene by July 4,” Brock said. “Right now, I’m about a week behind. But I can make that up. After Memphis, it’s flat. I can really get going. When you stay a couple days here, a couple days there because of the weather, it gets you behind. I’ll be playing catch-up for the next week.”
Brock spent Wednesday night in a motel to avoid being “hammered” by high winds and rain.
“I’m going to reach my goal,” Brock said. “I’m motivated.”