Jack Fussell at 272 pounds.

Every day for the past month, Canton resident Jack Fussell, 62, has laced up his running shoes and pounded the Georgia pavement, covering about 15 miles each day. But when he's finished, he doesn't turn around and go home. He's aiming for California.

 

Fussell is running across the country to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer's disease, which plagued his father before his death in June 2000. But his run is more than a wacky fundraiser or a publicity stunt. It's the culmination of more than a decade of extraordinary change to his health and his life. It wasn't long ago that he was 100 pounds overweight and couldn't take a short hike without stopping to rest.

 

"I really realized it is never, ever too late to change things about yourself," he said.

 

In 2001 at age 50, a bleeding ulcer landed Fussell in the intensive care unit. He lost so much blood that his organs began to fail and he nearly died. Even when the worst was over, a doctor told him he'd be lucky to survive for a year. Fussell said he was terrified.

 

"I sure did want to stay alive, and I especially wanted to make sure I didn't have to go back to that little room with the tubes coming out of me," he said. "I just had a tremendous motivating feeling called fear."

 

Jack Fussell at 155 pounds.

Fussell began making daily drives to Amicalola Falls State Park near Dawsonville, taking comfort in the beauty of the area. One day Fussell found himself sitting at the base of the 604 stairs leading to the top of the falls.

 

"It just popped in my mind that someday I'm going to run up these stairs," he said.

 

Changing for the Better

He began slowly, walking up the steps, stopping to rest several times along the way. Weeks later, he could climb to the top of the steps without stopping. Then he started to run. Donning a yellow baseball cap, Fussell would spend eight to 10 hours at the park each day, running up and down the stairs and winding through the park's trails. Visitors were constantly asking the park's rangers, "Who is that nut in the yellow hat?"

 

Fussell knew his diet needed a makeover as well, so he turned to his son-in-law, Todd Stormant, nutrition program manager for the Georgia Department of Public Health's (DPH) WIC program, to teach him how to eat right.

 

"We talked about the basics of carbs, fats and proteins, and where the calories come from," Stormant said. "He got motivated and did his own research."

 

Fussell began a daily 1,800 calorie diet based on the food pyramid -- oatmeal, toast, milk and an orange for breakfast, a Subway sandwich for lunch, a big salad or maybe more Subway for dinner.

 

After 11 months of his diet and daily treks up and down the stairs at Amicalola Falls, Fussell lost 102 pounds.

 

"I realized for a lot of my life I'd never really felt very good," he said. "As I got better and better, I felt so much better than I've ever felt."

 

In August 2011, Fussell completed his final goal: running the Amicalola Falls steps -- 604 up and 604 down -- 50 times. It took him 17 hours. But after a few days, Fussell said he felt empty. It was the first time in a long time he didn't have a goal set, waiting to be conquered. That's when Fussell decided it was time for an even bigger challenge: running from Georgia's Skidaway Island to the Pacific coast.

 

An Inspirational Journey

"When someone says they want to run across the country, initially, it's hard to decide do you support them or tell them they're crazy?" Stormant said. "At some point, you've just got to support them."

 

Fussell is running from Georgia to California to raise money for Alzheimer's disease research.

Support is something Fussell isn't short on. On Jan. 12, friends and family gathered to cheer him on before he set off on the first day of his cross-country run. Along his route, people who have heard about his project offer to put him up for the night when he runs through their town. Others pull out their checkbooks to donate to the Alzheimer's Association. Fussell has even gotten calls from celebrity runners who recently made runs across the country and offer him support and advice.