PHOTO COURTESY APRYLLE GILBERT
PROVINCETOWN – Aprylle Gilbert said a set of “crazy mishaps” has made her who she is today. That person, though, is somebody capable of running across the country.
Gilbert will finish her transcontinental run along Route 6 Tuesday around noon at Pilgrim’s First Landing Park in Provincetown, crossing a finish line where her two daughters, 19 and 22 respectively, and the Provincetown Board of Selectmen will be waiting for her.
She set out in May from Long Beach, California with the goal of raising money for her charity, Coast to Coast For Kids. So far, she said she has raised about $5,300 on a Crowdrise account.
Gilbert said despite having only picked up distance running in 2012, it was always her dream to make a cross-country attempt.
“I was not going to cross this whole country without trying to benefit somebody,” she said. “It just seemed like a great opportunity to help out my community.”
She found that opportunity in the disadvantaged youth of her hometown of San Jose. Her past, she said, also had a role in cementing her dedication to these kids in particular.
“I was a runaway child; sort of a bad-girl when I was a teenager,” she said.
Gilbert said she also faced challenges on this journey, citing the “endless” stretches of desert in Nevada (sometimes as long as 171 miles between towns), and thousands of feet of elevation she faced in parts of Colorado. In one state alone, Nevada, she summitted 10 mountains.
The money will go to the Washington United Youth Center in San Jose, which Gilbert said is one of the city’s most crime-ridden neighborhoods.
She said the funding will allow the center to stay open longer hours and bring local children on outdoor activities away from the city.
A few weeks ago, Gilbert learned that the Route 6 Tour Association would match whatever she raised, bringing her current figure to nearly $11,000.
“I just hope I can be an example. The kids are worth going the extra mile for,” Gilbert said.
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