93 marathons in 150 days: "I imagine myself a bit like Forrest Gump"

BarcelonaEnric Casacuberta jokes imagining what he might find in a few months when he arrives in the state of Illinois, in the United States. “I imagine myself a bit like Forrest Gump, running in front of a crowd”, he says, laughing. He's not wrong. An American NGO awaits this 61-year-old official from the Moià Town Hall with open arms, as if he were a rock star, to accompany him and take photos with him, he explains. “The truth is that it has gotten very big. I don't quite understand how it all happened so quickly”. created a website to raise funds... and created a website to raise funds... and we had to train”. Yes, train. Especially him, because contrary to what one might think, Enric was not a person accustomed to running marathons. “If you had seen me two years ago, you would have thought this guy was incapable of running a race. I walked a lot, I did sports... but not races. I weighed about 90 kg and now I'm around 72. So I've been training to be ready. Two years ago I went to the Ripoll Half Marathon and I won it right from the start. In my age category, mind you”, points out this man who has been working at the Moià Town Hall for twenty years, where he will request a leave of absence.

“The idea is to start running from Chicago on August 25th, to the Santa Monica Pier, in Los Angeles. It will be about 150 days. The original route is 3,940 kilometers, which is 2,448 miles, but I will do more, because there are many stretches where you have to go around. I've calculated it will be like running 93 marathons in 150 days”, he says. Once he took the step forward, Enric realized he could still do better. It wasn't about a personal challenge. He could help. After seeing how a friend with whom he had done the Pastorets died because of ALS, he decided he would raise funds for the Miquel Valls Foundation. “Juan Carlos Unzué's fight also impacted me, his speech in Congress. I've decided I want to help and everything we raise will go to them”, he explains.Doing it this 2026 was special, as a lot of events have been organized to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of this route. And in the program of official events, which include talks, cycling sections, or concerts, Enric's solo race has been included. And through social media and being admitted as an official initiative for the 100 years of Route 66, many Americans have discovered the project.Once he was explaining the idea, a lot of good people stepped forward to help. The Centre Cenit of Girona and the coach Jordi Extremera, who work with elite cyclists and athletes, help him with training, monitoring, analysis... "The Moià podiatry clinic takes great care of me, as feet are key in this race... Many people help and move me, honestly, like the Federació Catalana d’Atletisme and the Joma brand, which has lent me the shoes, the Diputació de Barcelona, the Ajuntament de Moià", he explains. In the United States, Núria Archer Petitbó and Steve Jesseph are preparing everything for him. When the day comes, his brother and friends will take turns so that there is always someone driving a van nearby so he can sleep and rest when needed.What Enric didn't expect is that an association seeking to raise funds for ALS research in the United States got in touch with him to help him during the first few days in Illinois. “He told me they would be waiting for me at the end of the Illinois stages. And they kept increasing things. They've created an initiative where you can sign up to finish the stages with me. They've made t-shirts, medals, and a lot of noise. He says that some days I'll have fifty people or more waiting there to run with me, to greet me and take photos together. You know how Americans are, they always think big. And he tells me he believes they can raise thousands of dollars, that it will be a success... they say they want to raise 300 million. Think that a few years ago they did that viral challenge where you had to pour a bucket of water over your head to raise funds for ALS research and hundreds of millions were raised. I'll settle for less. Everything I raise will be for the Miquel Valls Foundation, which supports patients, and what they raise in the United States will be for their foundation, which dedicates it to scientific research. They also want politicians to come. They say that if we're asking, they'll ask the governor of California, this one they say will be Trump's great rival, to receive me in Santa Monica”.Enric's idea is to start running from Moià towards Barcelona, where he will visit the American consulate and the Palau de la Generalitat, and then head to the airport. This way he can say, in a way, that he has run from Moianès to Santa Monica. And he can say, if only for once, that Route 66 began in Moià, at his home, where he conceived the adventure of his life. An adventure in which he will spend many days alone, but with the support of many people.