Endurance Runner Chasing 50-State Record Gets Otter Tail County Escort

The Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office escorted endurance runner Noah Coughlan across the Wadena County line on the morning of March 20, picking up a relay of first responder escorts that began deeper in Wadena with a police officer and a fire department chief running alongside one of the most ambitious solo athletic campaigns in the country.

Coughlan is running what he calls "Run for America," a bid to become only the third person to successfully run across all 50 states. Officer Nick Grabe of the Wadena Police Department and Wadena Fire Department Assistant Chief Nate Beiderman were the initial escorts, with the Wadena Police Department noting that Grabe and Beiderman "had the privilege of escorting Noah Coughlan on his cross-country Run for America." When Coughlan reached the county line, the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office took over, escorting him from Wadena County into Otter Tail County as he continued west.

He started this leg of his journey in Maine and anticipates completing it in Oregon in approximately two months. After reaching Oregon, he plans to drive to Alaska and run from north to south, then fly to Hawaii to run on the Big Island and plant his flag in the Pacific Ocean.

That flag carries particular weight: it was provided by the U.S. Air Force and was flown during a combat mission before being placed in Coughlan's hands for the run.

If he finishes all 50 states, Coughlan would join only two others who have completed the feat in recorded history, a distinction that drew Wadena and Otter Tail County first responders out to mark his passage through central Minnesota.