MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five-time cancer survivor Helene Neville finished running Tennessee Saturday in her goal to run across all 50 states.
“I’m just out here trying to get people to think positive,” Neville said.
Tennessee will be Neville’s 42nd state she has run across on her journey.
It’s taken Neville seven years to get to this point, finishing the perimeter in 2015.
Neville’s says she’ll be the second person and the first woman to run across all fifty states.
“I really wanted to go across every state,” Neville said, “and prove that there is good in everybody everywhere.”
“No matter where you are, what your circumstances are and I prove that every day.”
Neville does it solo, she relies on the help of those in the area she is running to give her a place to rest, to shuttling her to point A and point B.
Neville says it depends on the circumstances how many miles she runs in the day.
She said she has faced pneumonia and altitude sickness during this section of her journey and currently runs 15 to 20 miles every day.
WREG asked Neville what her run across Tennessee was like.
“Everybody is so nice,” Neville said, “and have opened their hearts and their doors. Provided housing, food, shuttling me from my start and stop point. Every day I’ve been looked after.”
“It’s made my heart swell.”
The Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau provided her with a hotel for three nights.
You can learn more about Neville on her website and follow her on her Facebook page as she continues her journey in the natural state.
