- April 3, 2025
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On Feb. 22, the Windermere Preparatory School welcomed Jim Plunkett-Cole, who is running 20,000 miles across the country in three years to emulate the trek taken by the fictional character Forest Gump.
Jim Plunkett-Cole and olympic gold medalist Dwight Thomas made their entrance into the school’s campus by running in.
Jim Plunkett-Cole visited the school with a well-known running companion: Dwight Thomas, a Jamaican sprinter who won the gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Jim Plunkett-Cole has been running 16 miles a day every day since Oct. 1, 2016. He drops in on schools along his route to explain the importance of health and fitness.
Jim Plunkett-Cole and olympic gold medalist Dwight Thomas made their entrance into the school’s campus by running in.
Dwight Thomas and Jim Plunkett-Cole give out high-fives while passing by a tunnel of excited Windermere Prep students.
Jim Plunkett-Cole goes to schools and shares his experience with running in order to inspire children to be more physically active.
During his presentation, Jim Plunkett-Cole talked about his journey and displayed pictures of his Border Collie Alfredo, who would accompany him on his daily 6.2 mile runs.
The middle school track team happily waited outside the gymnasium’s entrance doors to escort Jim Plunkett-Cole’s exit from the school.
After his presentation, Jim Plunkett-Cole and Dwight Thomas, took photos with the Windermere Prep students.
Jim Plunkett-Cole was greeted by the middle school track team after his presentation, which ran alongside him as he left the school.
Windermere Preparatory School received a unique visitor on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
Jim Plunkett-Cole, a 48-year-old from the city of Bristol in South West England, visited the school as part of his mission to drop in on select schools during his 20,000-mile journey across the U.S in three years.
Prior to this goal, Plunkett-Cole ran 6.2 miles every day for three years with his running buddy, a Border Collie named Alfredo. The daily runs helped Plunkett-Cole realize the importance of daily physical activity.
His admirable commitment to physical fitness and ambitious quest was inspired by the 1994 film: Forrest Gump. In the movie, the fictional character Forrest Gump began his trek in Mobile, Alabama, so Plunkett-Cole decided to start his own journey there as well on Oct. 1, 2016.
Plunkett-Cole, who has Asperger's Syndrome, was inspired by the movie because he noticed similarities between the fictional main character and himself. But unlike Forrest, Plunkett-Cole makes a habit of sharing his journey and philosophy on fitness with students in the hope of inspiring them to become more physically active as well.
"Do anything; do any sport. Be active and do something you enjoy every day," Plunkett-Cole said during his 30-minute presentation in the school's gymnasium.
Anyone interested in following Plunkett-Cole's journey across the U.S. may visit his Facebook page at fb.com/JimGumpUK.
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Contact Gabby Baquero at gbaquero@orangeobserver.com
