For the Bristowans that were out and about on Wednesday, you may have noticed a runner pulling a cart through town. Yuji 'Gump' Suzuki, from Japan, is running across country from New York to Los Angeles, California. He is expecting his journey to take around 6 months.
The cart he is running with is a rickshaw. For those readers, like myself, not sure what a rickshaw is, it's a 2 wheeled cart designed to carry 1 or 2 people and pulled by a runner. The word rickshaw is derived from the Japanese and means human powered vehicle. Rickshaws have been used in Asia for 100's of years for a mode of transportation.
I had an enjoyable visit with Mr. Suzuki, Gump, as his friends call him, courtesy of the movie Forest Gump, as he ran through our hometown of Bristow, OKlahoma. And I found him to be a fascinating personality. As we visited about his journey I had asked if he had come across any trouble during his travels, in which he stated 'Not really, other than small issues getting through towns with the dangers of city traffic.' I asked about where he slept and he said he pitched a small tent on the side of the road and slept at night. But along his journey he has met many people who have invited him into their homes to sleep in a bed and have a home meal. He stated that It warmed his heart how these perfect strangers invited him into their homes and shared their lives with him and he had learned a lot about American traditions.
See Rickshaw, Page Three
Vicki Grisham photo The United States is not the first country he has done this in. He first did this in Asia and then many other countries like Europe and Australia, and of course now our proud nation, the United States of America.
I asked 'Gump' Suzuki what he was doing this for, fully expecting an answer such as 'in rememberance of' or 'in honor of ', and found myself quite surprised when he stated 'I am doing this FOR FUN.' 'A good way to travel the world.' he said. As I said before, a fascinating personality.
He is going to be making a documentary of his travels. You can follow Yuji 'Gump' Suzuki and his travels through most social media sights like facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
--