Christendom Graduate Runs Across America to Support Front Royal Pregnancy Center

What began as a personal endurance challenge for Jared Plasberg became a 3,000-mile journey across the United States supporting women and families facing unexpected pregnancies.

The 23-year-old Winchester native and Christendom College graduate recently completed a cross-country run from San Diego, California, to St. Augustine, Florida, raising awareness and more than $25,000 for the Front Royal Pregnancy Center.

Jared Plasberg stands on the beach in San Diego before beginning his 3,000-mile journey across the United States in support of the Front Royal Pregnancy Center.

Plasberg completed the journey over 114 days while pushing a stroller filled with food, water, and supplies.

“I wanted to really do something that would test my limits, but also something that would have meaning beyond myself,” Plasberg said during a recent interview with the Royal Examiner. “I chose to support the Front Royal Pregnancy Center because I really support the work that they do, helping women facing unexpected pregnancies and providing practical support and care.”

The route followed bicycle corridors and back roads across the southern United States through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

Plasberg said safety became one of the biggest challenges during the run.

“Sometimes you don’t have a choice in the roads you’re on,” he said. “The road might have a really narrow shoulder, and sometimes you have to go into a ditch and push the stroller through rocks and dirt.”

Weather conditions also tested him physically and mentally. He encountered freezing desert nights, extreme heat, strong winds in West Texas, and days of nonstop rain along the Gulf Coast.

But Plasberg said the kindness of strangers often carried him through the hardest moments.

“One time in Louisiana, I was rationing my water, trying to make it to the next town,” he recalled. “A stranger on a motorcycle came past me, turned around, handed me a bottle of water without saying anything, and left.”

Families across the country also opened their homes to him during the journey.

“Families I’d never met before would invite me into their homes and take care of me,” he said. “That really gave me strength.”

The stroller he pushed every mile became an unexpected conversation starter.

“People would ask what was going on, and that gave me an opportunity to share the mission,” Plasberg said.

At times, however, his bright orange clothing and solitary roadside running created confusion.

“Probably about once a week, someone would call the cops on me,” he said with a laugh. “People thought I was a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit.”

Plasberg said the journey changed him in ways beyond physical endurance.

“Growth isn’t something that happens randomly in the future,” he said. “The person I become tomorrow is shaped by the choices I make today.”

Faith played a major role throughout the run. Plasberg said he regularly attended Mass along the route and often reflected on prayer, purpose, and vocation while running.

Part of the journey, he explained, involved discerning whether he is called to monastic life. Later this year, he plans to travel to France to enter a monastery as part of that discernment process.

“I’ve been discerning a vocation to a monastery,” he said. “This journey gave me time to think about that because it’s a big life decision.”

Plasberg said one of the most memorable encounters happened in New Mexico after a priest introduced him to a hermit who had once walked across the United States herself decades earlier.

“You just meet special people like that, and they have such a big impact on you,” he said.

The Front Royal Pregnancy Center supported the project throughout the run by helping manage social media updates and online outreach.

Looking back, Plasberg said the experience strengthened his belief in perseverance, faith, and human generosity.

“There are days when you feel strong and days when you feel completely broken,” he said. “But people praying for you and encouraging you make a difference.”

Town Talk, sponsored by National Media Services, Inc., is a Royal Examiner series that introduces you to local entrepreneurs, business owners, nonprofit leaders, and public officials who help shape Warren County. Conversations cover a wide range of topics about our community and the people making a difference.