Most college freshmen will be returning home for their first summer break this month with haste, eager to get some relaxing time away before hitting the books again in a matter of months. For three local students, though, kicking off the summer is hardly a walk in the park. It is, however, a walk — 400 miles of walking, to be exact, and, to top it off, it’s all for a good cause.
“I like adventures,” admitted Sean Cummings, a soon-to-be sophomore at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. He and two other 2007 Indian River High School graduates will begin their return trip from the South to Sussex County next week — by foot — in what they have dubbed “the Freshman 400.”
Nearly 400 miles stretch between Wilmington, N.C., and southeastern Delaware, but that won’t stop them from lacing on their sneakers and enduring a lengthy 25-day excursion that no one has publicly claimed to have accomplished to this day.
More than an extreme physical challenge for the three, the Freshman 400 is aimed at raising funds for the Justin W. Jennings Foundation and Justin’s Beach House, a non-profit organization commemorating and honoring the life Justin Jennings — a life cut short by brain cancer at 19, shortly after Jennings returned for his sophomore year at Penn State amidst intense chemotherapy treatments.
Eight years later, Cummings and his crew decided to do something big with the summer before their own sophomore years in college, and the Freshman 400 was born, with the side benefit of raising money for the foundation and Jennings’ family’s goal of building a beach house retreat for families affected by cancer.
“It’s very heartwarming, to say the least. It’s wonderful that kids at that age are thinking of something else and putting something like this before themselves,” said MaryEllen Nantais, Jennings’ mother. “I think that it is very poetic in itself that these boys are doing this right around the same period of their lives that Justin was when he passed,” she added.
“Sean never really knew Justin, growing up, but here he is, doing all this for someone he didn’t know,” she emphasized. “He’s a kindred spirit. Sean has the same personality that Justin had. This effort is very sentimental, and I’m truly happy for the awareness that they’re bringing into the light.”
For Cummings, the idea came to him in the simple desire to take on a challenge.
“I wanted to take on something really big,” Cummings said, “something that was going to be a challenge.”
So, on May 9, he will set out, northbound on North Carolina State Route 17, accompanied by Daniel Kleinstuber, a freshman at Cape Fear Community College, also in Wilmington, N.C. Stopping at hotels each night to rest, they plan on walking 20 to 30 miles a day before making it back home.
On May 11, they will be joined by fellow IR grad Pierson Roenke, who will have completed his first year at Virginia Tech, and will continue on their mission for the duration of the trip home. The expedition should see the three back in town on May 24, followed up by a celebratory pig roast at the planned site of Justin’s Beach House, on Garfield Parkway, across from St. Anne’s Church, in Bethany Beach.
All three of the walkers were active with sports through high school. Cummings was a wrestler and Kleinstuer and Roenke were soccer players. Roenke also kept active on the track. However, this mission is unlike anything the three have experienced before.
“Normally, when you tell someone you’re going to walk 400 miles back home in the summer, they don’t take you seriously,” said Cummings. “A lot of people don’t always realize just how far that is. You can drive 30 miles in half an hour, but it’s a different story when you’re walking it.”
Over the past month, Cummings and Kleinstuber have prepared themselves for their departure. They have walked 8 miles to Wrightsville Beach and back, then south 10 miles to Kure Beach and back. To see if they could manage a full day of walking, they were even dropped off 26 miles outside of the city limits, at 8:30 in the morning, before returning on foot later that evening.
“We had a lot of breaks in between there,” said Cummings. “It’s something we can do, and it would be a really awesome accomplishment.”
More than physical training has gone into their preparation. Hours were spent on research, studying maps and deciding what to bring along, with both heavily weighed. Their route will keep them within roughly 50 miles of the Atlantic coastline as they make their trek.
Cummings even got in touch with mega-hiker Andrew Skurka, who was featured in National Geographic magazine for his walk from the East Coast to the West Coast.
“We talked a lot about what to bring, what to eat and the best times of day to walk,” said Cummings. “I talked to him about things I was concerned with, and he’d know better than anyone.”
At 23 years old, Skurka completed his quest in 2004, complete with sleeping bag for overnight shelter. The contenders on the Freshman 400 aren’t taking the risk of sleeping outdoors overnight, although the thought had originally crossed their minds.
“My parents were worried at the beginning, when we had discussed camping out on our way up,” Cummings said. Hotel and motel accommodations have been made, roughly 26 miles apart.
There are plenty of safety measures the walkers will take, and many things they have in mind as their journey nears its start.
“We’re definitely going to need a good amount of sleep each night,” he added. “We have to stay energized. The weather was nice during our practice runs, so rain is one thing that concerns me.”
He and his accomplices are going into this endeavor expecting wear and tear on their feet. “We’ll probably get some blisters,” he said.
He’s packed as light as possible, planning to carry with him a change of clothes, first aid supplies and some snacks to keep him energized. He’s bringing along a camera, but, as he noted, it’s not always going to be a sight-seeing spectacle along their planned route. “We want to take pictures of all the welcome signs we pass,” he said, “There’s not a lot of scenery, but you’d be surprised with what you can see on a 26-mile walk.”
The decision to walk for charity came after discussing his plan with his parents — in particular, his father, Mike Cummings, owner of Miken Builders and a major supporter of Justin’s Beach House through the non-profit Contractors for a Cause.
“We decided that it would be best if we had a purpose behind it,” said Sean Cummings. “I didn’t want my dad thinking I was just some hippy.”
The trio of walkers has already contacted various authorities to advise them about their plan and is even going to be equipped with a supportive letter from State Sen. George Howard Bunting. Their journey will take them north past Norfolk, Va., and to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, through which they will be transported by automobile, since no pedestrians are allowed in the bridge-tunnel combination.
As their departure date nears and word spreads about their expedition, Sean Cummings has been receiving some questioning glances.
“People were in disbelief for a while,” he said. “They’re coming up to me and saying, ‘You’re actually doing this?’”
Originally, about 12 people had planned to participate in the walk, but due to second thoughts, schedule changes and personal reasons, the convoy dwindled down to three. Walking home was the original plan. He and Kleinstuber kicked around the idea of biking, too, but they agreed it wouldn’t be quite as gratifying as walking.
“I want to do something that no one’s done,” Sean Cummings said. “I didn’t want to just do the same thing that lots of people have already accomplished.”
Not surprisingly, Sean’s father’s initial reaction was not strongly in favor of the idea.
“As a parent,” said Mike Cummings, “you’re going to be concerned. I thought he was crazy when he told me, but he wanted to do something outrageous.” Opinion slowly started to shift, once they discussed the plan more.
“I wish him and the other two well,” Mike added. “They’ve done their research, and they’re doing it for a good cause. They were all up for the idea of walking for charity, and I’m really proud of what they’re taking on.
“This is something that they’ll be able to look back on and tell their grandchildren about some day,” he said. “This is a tribute to the kinds of kids we have here in Sussex County. They have ambition and they’re doing a neat thing. This is a huge accomplishment; something they’ll never forget.”
A group of local walkers will meet up with the three for the last 5 or 10 miles, depending on their preference, welcoming them home and congratulating them on their accomplishment, followed by the pig roast at noon. Those who wish to walk the boys back into Sussex County on May 25 can make a $25 donation to the charity, and will receive a complimentary T-shirt.
For more information about the Freshman 400, contact Mike Cummings at Miken Builders by calling (302) 537-4444. For information about the Justin W. Jennings Foundation, or to make a donation, visit www.thejwjfoundation.org, or call (302) 383-9282.