LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Bo Bryson has never been interested in taking the easy route.
On his 40th birthday, the Lincoln chiropractor ran 40 miles - a feat he completed in just under nine hours - to raise money for Voices of Hope, a Lincoln-based advocate for victims of sexual and domestic violence.
Then in April, Bryson partnered with Aksel Nelsen of Crossroads Church, along with other participants, to complete 45,000 burpees as a group to raise money for local community organizations.
The event began at 5:24 a.m. and took nearly 45 hours to complete, and they raised just over $45,000 for organizations like Lincoln City Impact and local police and fire departments.
In total, Bryson and Nelsen did around 12,000 burpees each during that time span.
So he’s proved his exceptional determination and athleticism, and could probably justify taking a break to relax. After all, he’s probably still sore from all the burpees.
But that’s not Bo.
“It’s pretty easy to be lazy and unhealthy,” he told the Lincoln Journal Star. “It takes consistent work to be healthy.”
Starting this month Bryson and more than 240 registered participants will begin a yearlong journey to walk, run or jog 78 miles worth of trails located within Lincoln city limits.
Bryson teamed up with the Great Plains Trail Network to bring the idea they’re calling Lincoln Trail-A-Thon 2020 to life. All of those who register pay a one-time fee of $25, which goes back to GPTN to maintain the city’s trails.
Dena Noe, former president and current board member of GPTN, said the money will go toward making up a $210,000 gap in funds for a bridge to connect the Rock Island and Jamaica North trails.
Bryson and the group have set an ambitious goal of signing up 1,500 participants to take part in the challenge throughout 2020. Noe said the goal seems more attainable now after a recent spike in registered participants.
“This is an all-year opportunity for everybody,” she said. “Bo’s done a great job of keeping the momentum going.”
Bryson said he isn’t an active trail-runner or hiker. He came up with the idea while doing a half-marathon and asked himself whether he would be able to run all the trails within city limits.
“I’m not really a big trail person. I just wanted to come up with crazy ideas,” he said.
Bryson hopes to keep everything open-ended for participants throughout the year. New trails will be scheduled each month, beginning with the Bison Trail and Pioneers Park Loop in January. There are no set times to complete the trails, giving participants plenty of time to fit each route into their schedule.
“My heart for this isn’t just for runners, you can walk it and jog it; you can see the whole city,” he said.
Noe said the challenge gives participants a chance to experience the city through a new lens.
She regularly runs the Rock Island Trail and admitted it’s difficult to make time to visit other trails outside of what’s close.
“We have a tendency to use the same trails over and over again,” she said. “I’m excited to see the community get out to other trails.”
The 78 miles of trail may seem daunting initially, so that’s why Bryson broke the trails up into increments throughout the year.
“It seems more doable for people rather than burpees or marathons,” he said. “My heart is just to get people healthy.”
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