Ultra-Runner Noah Coughlan Brings 50-State Journey Through New York Mills

Noah Coughlan had already logged more than 3,100 miles and 157 days on the road when he came through New York Mills last week, his American flag in hand, ticking off one more small-town mile marker on a journey that has consumed the better part of 15 years.

The 41-year-old California native is seven states away from making history, on pace to become the third person ever to cross all 50 U.S. states on foot. His route through Otter Tail County took him east to west along the Highway 10 corridor, leaving Wadena and pushing toward Perham, with New York Mills sitting squarely in between.

Coughlan's Run for America campaign is his fifth and final run across America, totaling 5,500 miles across 20 states, and is described as a tribute to highlight American spirit, the stories of everyday Americans, rare disease families, and some of the remaining World War II veterans.

After 157 days and over 3,100 miles, Coughlan arrived in Fargo, North Dakota, on Monday, March 23, with a police escort, meaning his passage through New York Mills came just days before that milestone crossing. Minnesota was state number 46 of 50.

The run is Coughlan's most ambitious yet, and the most personal. He made four previous attempts to run across the country in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2023, crossing 36 states. Those were for advocacy for millions of people with rare diseases, and then a run for veterans, specifically for World War II veterans. This final run, he has said, is different: "this one is for the American people."

When Coughlan began this last leg of his run, he had a few thousand people following his journey on Facebook. Now it's well over 100,000 and growing. Along the way, he interviews the people he meets in each state, asking them why they are proud to be an American, with hopes of compiling the videos into a documentary in memory of America's 250th anniversary.

When Coughlan finishes his final American run on July 4, 2026 in Hawaii, he will become only the third person ever to have crossed all 50 states on foot. He will join the ranks of ultra-runners Helene Neville and Paul Reese, who each crossed all 50 states in their respective journeys. After the lower 48 are complete, Coughlan will cross 900 miles across Alaska from Prudhoe Bay to Anchorage before finishing in Honolulu.

"Through all these runs I have always found a reason to keep running," Coughlan has said. "It's a message of unity and peace." For New York Mills, population just under 1,000, it was a brief but remarkable passage: a man who has run the equivalent of crossing the continent twice, carrying a flag through a town most of the country has never heard of, because, as he sees it, that is precisely the point.