Ocean 2 Ocean: The Pacific at Last
Atlantic to Pacific | 3,055 miles | 191 days | 13 states | 9,000+ face-to-face meetings
After 191 challenging days and 3,055 gruelling miles running across America, Sam Bencheghib has at last reached the Pacific Ocean – ending with a grand finale event in Santa Monica that combined a beach cleanup and celebration with a ‘final miles’ run where adidas Runners and members of the public joined Sam to support him at the very end of his epic run.
The 22-year old athlete, environmental activist, Parley ambassador and co-founder of Make a Change World set out on his cross-country odyssey from Battery Park in New York on July 26th, 2019 in adidas x Parley shoes made from Ocean Plastic® to bring the cause to inland America.
Averaging 20 to 30 miles of running per day through urban landscapes, midwestern plains and the Rocky Mountains all the way to the deserts of Arizona and finally the beaches of California — the mental and physical struggles wore on him. Sam’s main motivation to keep going were the 9,000+ face-to-face interactions and meetings with government officials, students, athletes, and ordinary Americans he encountered across 13 different states.
“It's hard to put into words what finishing this journey across America and jumping into the ocean felt like. Between the injuries, the soreness, the fatigue and extreme temperatures, there were moments I thought reaching the Pacific was impossible.”
– Sam Bencheghib
On February 1st, 2020, Sam was joined by over 70 people including family, friends, adidas runners LA and other supporters for the last three miles of his run. Parley for the Oceans and local organization Heal the Bay hosted a beach clean up to welcome Sam and celebrate the culmination of all that he has accomplished along the way.
Through all the education and discussion events he hosted on the journey, Sam realized there is still a huge lack of awareness and misinformation on plastic pollution. Though his run may have come to an end, this is just the beginning of a larger movement – a call to action for other incredible individuals and groups to collectively take action and act on this global emergency.
Sam proved through this journey that no idea is too big or too crazy. Running day in, day out for over six months to educate thousands of individuals on the crisis of plastic pollution showed that anyone can make a difference if they take the first step.