What was in ultrarunner Pete Kostelnick’s stroller?

The American ultrarunner Pete Kostelnick arrived at his destination in Key West, Florida on Monday after spending more than three months on his feet after leaving Kenai, Alaska. Kostelnick decided the best way to transport the gear he would need would be in a jogging stroller he christened the Amelia Dawson (Amelia for the American aviator Amelia Earhart, and Dawson for Dawson Creek, which is mile zero of the Alaska Highway. “I wanted a ship name for the stroller and liked how it sounded,” Kostelnick told us.) 

RELATED: Pete Kostelnick to finish 8,614K run from Alaska to Key West on November 5

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Kostelnick is best known as the ultrarunner who holds the record for the fastest on-foot crossing of the US, which he finished in October 2016 in 42 days, six hours and 30 minutes. The project was called Pete’s Feet Across America.

After arriving in the Keys, Kostelnick revealed what was in the stroller.

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The items in the first photo are gifts he received from various people he met along the route. They include (among other items) an American Legion hat, an Airborne patch, some baseball cards, and a police patch from Weyburn, Saskatchewan. The second photo reveals such essentials as bug spray, bear spray, Kostelnick’s tent, a pump for the stroller tires, and a water filter.

The third photo shows various items of Hoka-branded gear. Photo four is his electronics and GPS. The last photo is of a taco costume and a Dorothy costume (Kostelnick wore the taco costume, but not Dorothy). Apparently his sense of humour did not suffer, even if his feet and legs did.

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The run took 97 days, six hours, and 57 minutes, and Kostelnick averaged 55.3 miles (almost 88 and a half kilometres) per day. On the last day, he wrote the following: 

“About eight miles out from the southernmost point, I hit a wall in the hottest day of the run. I told everyone I’d make it to the finish by 2-3 p.m., and that was starting to seem unrealistic. I remained calm and moved on, and with three miles to go I had 29 minutes to get there. No easy task when you’re hurting, but I figured I had it.”

RELATED: Lazarus Lake finishes 5,100 kilometre walk across America

“Pretty soon I remembered I had to find the bottle of Pacific Oean water for the finish. That wasted 45 seconds. Then, I also had to use the restroom, which ended up being a side street, costing me 15 seconds. Today’s second song of the day came on for the last half mile, and it was perfect. At 2:57 p.m., I tagged the Southernmost Point. Song of the day: Shania Twain–Swingin’ With My Eyes Closed; Fastball–The Way.