The indomitable spirit of the Greatest Generation lives on. God bless you, sir and Run, Ernie, Run.

Via AL.com

Ernie Andrus started the final leg of his amazing, 3,000-mile run across the United States before dawn Saturday morning. By the time he made it to the beach on St. Simon’s Island, the sun was shining, the sky was cloudless and the Atlantic Ocean glimmered in front of him.

Surrounded by hundreds of people, including family members and friends he’s made in the past two years and 10 months, Andrus finished his journey, with the crowd waving American flags and cheering “Ernie! Ernie! Ernie!”

Andrus has been running, at a pace of a half-marathon to a marathon per week, since Oct. 7, 2013. After celebrating his 93rd birthday Friday in Brunswick, Ga., he has become the oldest person ever to run across the country from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

Among those who ran the final leg with him were John and Michelle Crosby, who met Andrus when he ran through Madisonville, La., last year. They accompanied him on 15 legs of his journey, including his trek through Mobile in February, and have helped him with police escorts along the way.

“He got too far for us past Mobile,” Crosby said in a phone interview Friday night. “Yesterday was our first time to see him since Mobile. We’re glad to be back.”

Mobile City Councilman John Williams first met Andrus when he ran into the district Williams represents. “It didn’t take long after his arrival to know we had a special person in our city,” Williams said.
Keep reading…