PORTVILLE, N.Y. — Over the past two months, Melanie Ihrig and her husband, Lou Tassinary, of Bryan, Texas, have walked hundreds of miles following the “Bunion Derby” route made by walkers and runners across the country in 1928.
On Wednesday, Ihrig and Tassinary were spotted walking on Route 417 in the town of Portville, making their way to Ceres, Pa., where they stayed the night at Oz’s Homestay Bed & Breakfast. They began the trek May 3 in Chicago and expect to reach New York City in early August.
Tassinary, 62, a professor with Texas A&M’s Department of Visualization in the College of Architecture, is on sabbatical until September. Ihrig, his 63-year-old wife of 27 years, is retired from biomedical research at Houston Medical Center. Both have been active in sports through the years and are the parents of two children.
The couple appeared fit, lean and energetic when they stopped on the highway to share information on their adventure and why they were pursuing it. Each pulled rickshaw-style carts containing tents and other supplies for their adventure.
“I just decided that I really liked walking and wanted to walk when I retired,” Ihrig said in giving a short explanation. “Right now, we’re following the route of the Bunion Derby,” also known as the inaugural Transamerican Footrace. Tassinary said 199 men participated in the 1928 footrace, starting out in Los Angeles.
“Eighty-four days later they were in Madison Square Garden in New York City,” Tassinary stated. “They ran anywhere from 20 to 74 miles a day. It was to promote the opening of Route 66.”
Tassinary said he and his wife first started their walk in the Santa Monica, Calif., area in September, with their family dogs in tow. They had to call it quits in Albuquerque, N.M., when they developed minor illnesses.
When the couple regrouped and began the walk from Chicago in May, this time it was without their dogs. Ihrig said the dogs were left with her son. Their daughter is serving as the “point person” who keeps tabs on their whereabouts with a satellite tracker. She also ships items and supplies to her parents.
“From Chicago to New York, this is roughly the route (the 1928 footrace) followed,” Tassinary explained, noting the local walk has led them near Route 86. “They had to go a set distance (in 1928) so when they got up in the morning in Jamestown, they had to run to Bradford, Pa. They came down through Allegany State Park and picked up Interstate Parkway into Bradford.”
Ihrig said they stayed overnight at Allegany State Park, which they found quite beautiful.
She said they usually walk 15 to 20 miles a day and often stop at bed and breakfast facilities, motels or other places with showers.
They said another important reason for the trek is to promote walking.
“When we were on Route 66 … we wanted to promote it for walking and cycling, rather than for cars,” Ihrig remarked. “The cars drive on it, but they don’t support any of the local economy … people walking and cycling there would support it.”
Tassinary said walking has made him aware of the awful noise on roads.
“When you walk you realize how horrible noise pollution is,” he exclaimed.
While their daily walking has created little more than sore feet, it has taken its toll on their shoes.
“I’m on pair four (of shoes) and he’s on pair three — he needs a new pair,” Ihrig said as she looked down at her husband’s worn sneakers.
Tassinary admitted they have had “a few close calls” with traffic, but have done well by only traveling during the day and by always remaining conscious of what the cars are doing. They said the local weather has been comfortably cool for walking, but they have encountered plenty of rain.
The couple said after they complete this portion of the walk, they’ll look into walking the middle part of the country that they had to skip.
“We haven’t walked Albuquerque to Chicago,” he noted.
