August 27, 2009
Walking '1,000 Miles for Mike'
By Shauna Steigerwald ssteigerwald@enquirer.com http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20090827/NEWS01/908280349/
As the old Chinese proverb goes, a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Brian Hronek will take that first step on a literal 1,000-mile journey through three states on Sept. 5.
Hronek, of White Oak, plans to walk "1,000 Miles for Mike" as a way to pay tribute to a family friend and to raise awareness about and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Last September, Hronek, 38, was laid off from his job in product development and marketing at Cosco in Indianapolis, where he and his family had been living for 10 years. He and his wife, Stephanie, decided to sell their house and move back to their native Cincinnati with sons Jacob, 13, Jonah, 10, and Nicholas, 5.
That's when the generosity of a family friend, Mike Stanforth of Ludlow, kicked in. Sanforth, Hronek's father's best friend since their Colerain High School days, a man Hronek had grown up thinking of as an uncle, offered to let the family live in a house he owns in White Oak rent-free while they got back on their feet.
"Without him, I don't know where I'd be," said Hronek, who is now a substitute teacher in the Northwest Local School District.
Then in May, Stanforth, 61, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. Since then, he has lost the use of his left side and has had to go on oxygen. Hronek has served as a caregiver for Stanforth, who needs help even with simple tasks such as getting out of his chair.
"It robs you of everything except your mind," Hronek said of the disease. "It's very depressing."
Hronek decided that raising awareness about the disease was the one way he could begin to repay Stanforth's generosity, and he wanted to do something big. So he came up with the idea for "1,000 Miles for Mike," a walk that will take him and a friend, Joe Jungkunz, on a 1,000-mile trek through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.
Jungkunz, 23, was planning to take a semester off from Cincinnati State and do a bike ride on the East Coast, but when he heard about Hronek's walk, he decided that would be a better use of his time.
"He wants to look back and see that when he did something that was great, it wasn't just for himself; it was for other people," Hronek said of his friend.
The pair will gather with friends, family and supporters at Newport on the Levee at 1 p.m. Sept. 5 and will set out on their journey at around 2 p.m.
Hronek estimates that the walk will take about 30 days, with the men walking 30 to 40 miles per day. They've received invitations from family members, friends and friends of friends for places to stay along their route, which will take them through Florence, Lexington and Bardstown, Ky.; Indianapolis, New Castle and Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Toledo, Sandusky, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; as well as small towns in between, before they end up back home in Cincinnati.
They're also bringing tents and sleeping bags so they can camp out if needed.
There's a life lesson that Hronek hopes people will take away from his experience.
"I want people to realize that it doesn't take much to do something for someone else," he said. "Do it before it's too late. I'm really getting to know a guy (Stanforth) that I've known for 38 years. He was always around; you just take it for granted."
Additional Facts
Follow the trek
Brian Hronek is blogging about his experiences at
1000milewalk.blogspot.com/ and news.cincinnati.com/gehrigblog
To donate to Hronek's fundraising campaign, visit web.alsa.org/goto/Mike.Stanforth
~Best viewed with a positive attitude~