Former Marine on a Cross-country Fundraiser

What's left for a guy who's run 100 marathons, 100 half-marathons and 100 10Ks?

For 71-year-old Rick Hermelin it was a cross-country trip. But he won't be running it exactly. The former Marine, former electrical engineer and now a massage therapist will be riding an ElliptiGo bike, which manages to combine a bicycle and an elliptical gym machine.

"My goal is to make it to San Diego in 100 days," Hermelin said.

He stopped in Charleston on Wednesday on his way to Paris Island, which will be his starting point for the 3,000+ mile trip on Friday. His finish line is Camp Pendleton in San Diego, Calif., 100 days later.Hermelin said he'll have to average about 30 miles each day to make it in time.

During his trip Hermelin is hoping to find people that will take him in for the night in order to save money along the way.

"You meet real people that way," he said. "When I was an engineer I traveled a lot and stayed in hotels, and you never meet any real people in hotels."

Hermelin is using the trip to raise money for the Semper Fi Fund, a charity that raises money for injured and critically ill Marines and members of the other brnaches of the military that serve in support of Marine forces.

Originally Hermelin thought about trying to run the whole way, but at 71 he worried his body might not be able to take the toll. One of his massage clients, who had to give up riding a regular bike because of back pain, introduced him to the ElliptiGo, which has a much lower level of impact on the body.

Hermelin's client was an early adopter of the ElliptiGo and knew the people running the company. When he mentioned Hermelin's cross-country ambition, ElliptiGo decided to sponsor him.

"Two weeks later an ElliptiGo showed up at my door," he said.

Hermelin's route with take him from Paris Island, into Georgia, across the Florida panhandle, along the Gulf of Mexico through Alabama and Mississippi, through Louisiana, then across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California to Camp Pendleton. He'll be keeping a blog along the way as well.