Clark County man hopes to make it to Chicago in 60 days
CAMAS — Dale Rule is setting out to do another Dale Rule thing this summer. He is, after all, an attention seeker.
In this journey of his, that is a good thing. A very good thing.
“I want people to say, ‘What is wrong with this guy? This guy is weird and crazy.’ Yes I am, and here’s why,” Rule said Monday night from Nuestra Mesa, a restaurant in Camas where he was holding a fundraiser for his latest adventure.
On June 17 — Father’s Day — Rule is scheduled to start walking. The plan is to walk every day for 60 days, averaging 35.5 miles per day, to make it to Chicago. He does have some experience with long-distance treks. A couple years ago, he walked from Seaside, OR, to San Diego, CA.
“I’m a pretty ordinary guy from a blessed community,” Rule said. “I”m not super talented in any one thing, but I’m extremely driven.”
The miles are not the accomplishment. Rule, who works for the Camas School District, uses his walks in hopes of driving traffic to his nonprofit website, everyonewalk.com. The dream is to eventually build athletic parks throughout the country in order to encourage physical fitness.
Along the route to Chicago, he will keep his supporters up to date with posts on social media. He will have his phone handy in hopes of being interviewed by local media as he strolls through town after town, city after city.
If all goes to schedule, he said he expects to meet up with the Nebraska football team to share his story with the Cornhuskers. While in Nebraska, he would love to catch the ear of another man.
“I want to get the opportunity to sit down and share my vision with Warren Buffet when I get to Omaha,” Rule said of the famous investor. “I don’t want Warren’s money. I just want him to see my vision and maybe be encouraged by my nonprofit.”
Rule started thinking about this trip pretty much as soon as he made it to San Diego in 2016.
“It was validation,” Rule said. “You can do this. What else can you do?”
As far as Chicago as the next destination, he said it was simple math. He averaged close to 34 miles a day to San Diego, so he figured he could up that a bit. Plus he had a 60-day window to make it happen. (Rule is an assistant football coach at Camas and has to be back by mid-August for practice.) Put all those numbers together, and Chicago came up as the spot.
“‘I’m just going to hit the road for 60 days,” he said. “There are going to be some longer days and some shorter days.”
The trip costs money, too. There is a support team with a recreational vehicle that will need gas. Rule and his friends will all need food, too. Some support members will be flying in to meet up with Dale along the route. So Team Dale spent Monday night at Nuestra Mesa raising funds. Donations are still being accepted at everyonewalk.com
Bottom line, he is hoping his story will encourage others.
In December of 2009, Dale Rule weighed 360 pounds. A couple months later, he started walking. It took him 42 minutes to walk a mile. About a year later, after walking every day and getting quite a bit faster, he was down 140 pounds.
Later, he helped students at Camas organize an annual 24-hour walkathon at Doc Harris Stadium. Rule is the guy who walks every single minute of those events.
Then in 2016, there was the long-distance mission down the west coast.
This summer, he is heading east, looking to inspire others to change — change their ways if needed or change the world.
“I’m willing to walk to Chicago to make a difference,” Rule said.
