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 reaches 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. A North 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 all gotten very big. I don't quite understand how it all went so fast”.¿And how did he get here? A few months ago, Enric announced his project, "Ruta 66 x ELA". The idea was to run nearly 4,000 km of the famous North American highway, Route 66, to raise funds for research into Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). “I am a lover of this Route 66. I've been several times, the last in 2023. I've driven it, I've ridden my motorcycle on it... I've done it in full and in sections. It fascinates me. You cross eight very different states of the United States. You see a bit of the history, the culture... and I had the idea of doing it running. I contacted Victor Muntané, who has written a book about Route 66, and I asked him if he thought it was feasible, since Route 66 as it was initially no longer exists. Many sections have been swallowed by the highway, where you can't run. And Victor told me that it was feasible. And that was it, he encouraged me. And I roped in a friend, Jordi Castellet, to start creating the structure. We need a support team, we need sponsors... we have created a website to raise funds... and training was needed”. Yes, training. 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 out of the gate. In my age category, eh?”, 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 January 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 sections where you have to go around. I’ve calculated that 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 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. “I was also struck by Juan Carlos Unzué’s fight, 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 between social media and the fact that it has been admitted as an official initiative for the 100 years of Route 66, many Americans have discovered the project.Once he started 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, analytics... “Moià’s podiatry clinic takes great care of me, as feet are key in this race... Many people help me and move me, honestly, like the Catalan Athletics Federation 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 with a van nearby so he can sleep and rest when needed.What Enric didn't expect is that an association that seeks to raise funds for ALS research in the United States contacted him to help him during the first few days in Illinois. “He told me they would wait for me at the end of the Illinois stages. And they went big. They have 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 will have fifty or more people there waiting 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’m content with less. Everything I raise will go to the Miquel Valls Foundation, which supports patients, and what they raise in the United States will go to their foundation, which dedicates it to scientific research. They also want politicians to come. They say that if we’re asking, they will ask the governor of California, the 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 Mónica. And he can say, even 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.