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<p>TOWANDA &#8212; Aprylle Gilbert has been running recreationally for only three years. The 46-year-old musician and mother of two has not logged countless hours in competition nor does she have many marathons under her belt, but Gilbert, stride by stride, is approaching a feat no runner has ever accomplished. After training for two years and putting nearly 3,200 miles between her and the Pacific Ocean, she is poised to become the first person to run across the country on Route 6, according to the U.S. Rt. 6 Tourist Association.</p><p>The journey, from Long Beach, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts, will encompass approximately 3,652 miles. Gilbert has run between 30 and 40 miles every day since she departed on May 11, all in the name of helping disadvantaged children and fulfilling a personal dream.</p><p>Throughout the &#8220;Coast to Coast for Kids&#8221; trek, Gilbert has encountered changing terrains and climates and stayed in small towns, bolstered by her support driver, Jose Reyes, and a network of volunteers steered her way by the Route 6 Tourist Association. A recent leg of the trip brought her to Towanda.</p><p>Gilbert is accepting donations at <a href="http://www.crowdrise.com/coasttocoastforkids">www.crowdrise.com/coasttocoastforkids</a>, to aid the Washingston United Youth Center in San Jose, California, where she currently resides. She said the center is in one of the highest crime areas of the city, exposing children to a lot of negative influences, but the youths there tend to be good kids in spite of that.</p><p>&#8220;I personally was a bad kid,&#8221; Gilbert said. &#8220;I did a lot of drugs and ran away from home and got into trouble, and I think that&#8217;s why I want to help kids in that sensitive age range where they think they know everything, but they&#8217;re still growing.&#8221;</p><p>Gilbert credits her lifestyle change to the birth of her own children. Her goal, she said, is to donate enough money to keep the center open more than the two days a week it currently can afford to operate.</p><p>When Gilbert was researching her route, she was intrigued by little towns that dotted the path of U.S. Route 6 and decided it would be her line from coast to coast.</p><p>&#8220;I contacted the Route 6 people, and the CEO got really excited about it, so once I had his enthusiasm, I couldn&#8217;t really turn back,&#8221; she said.</p><p>A logistics team, led by Rodger &#8220;Rodge&#8221; Blatt, Director of National Development for the association, is ahead of Gilbert on her route, seeking business owners willing to volunteer hot meals and comfortable beds.</p><p>In Towanda, Joe DuPont, owner of the Red Rose Diner, discovered Gilbert&#8217;s run via social media and reached out to the tourist association to volunteer.</p><p>&#8220;I thought, &#8216;It&#8217;s an impossible task, but if she&#8217;s going to make it out here, we&#8217;ll do what we can to help her on her way,&#8217;&#8221; DuPont said.</p><p>To help, the Red Rose remained open until Gilbert&#8217;s arrival at 10:40 p.m. on Aug. 23, and DuPont arranged for her to stay at the Bradford Inn. Bradley Fulmer, owner of the inn, gave DuPont a discounted price on the room and then donated that fee plus a bit more back to Gilbert&#8217;s charity. Fulmer and his daughter, Ashlyn, were on hand to greet the runner and present her with a donation check.</p><p>Also in attendance was Garrett Miller, mayor of Towanda, who presented Gilbert with an official letter of recognition and appreciation from the borough.</p><p>The U.S. Route 6 association is taking donations on its website, <a href="http://www.route6tour.com">www.route6tour.com</a>, and has doubled those collected by Gilbert. Together, the two sites have received nearly $10,000. All monetary donations go to the youth center.</p><p>Gilbert gets about five hours of sleep per night. She must eat every hour and a half, keep herself hydrated and protected from the sun, and take a variety of supplements to maintain an optimal level of efficiency. To add to the rigorous regiment, she has dealt with sweltering temperatures in the West and mid-West, thin air of high altitudes, blistered feet and desert flies that have scarred her arms and legs.</p><p>&#8220;If we didn&#8217;t have the volunteers, we would probably be camping every night because we&#8217;re broke,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Gilbert refuses to take money from the charity fund and said the support helps her emotionally.</p><p>As the routine has weighed on her body and mind, Gilbert has found comfort in the changing landscape. She said her favorite part of the journey is seeing something new every day.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just been cute little town after cute little town, especially Pennsylvania,&#8221; Gilbert said. &#8220;It has all the little church steeples. It&#8217;s just something out of a storybook.&#8221;</p><p>Gilbert warmed up with a 298-mile run from San Jose to Long Beach and has only rested for one day, May 10. Through summit after summit, humid plain after humid plain, she has persevered, keeping her goal in mind and often writing songs in her head as she takes in the sites of the country.</p><p>Reyes said it is Gilbert&#8217;s ability to visualize her goal and her unique compassionate personality that keeps her going.</p><p>For her part, Gilbert has learned something about herself during the journey. She realized there is nothing she can&#8217;t accomplish if she sets her mind to it.</p><p>&#8220;I will not give up, no matter what,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This has been the most difficult thing that I could possibly imagine, harder than I ever imagined, and I just keep going. It&#8217;s been a really amazing journey, and nothing will ever replace it.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Red Rose Diner regulars, Jennifer Swain, left, and Keegan Beard, right, greet Aprylle Gilbert, center, as she runs on Route 6 toward Towanda. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_aprylle1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Red Rose Diner regulars, Jennifer Swain, left, and Keegan Beard, right, greet Aprylle Gilbert, center, as she runs on Route 6 toward Towanda. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_miller1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Aprylle Gilbert is presented a letter of recognition by Towanda mayor Garrett Miller. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_miller1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Aprylle Gilbert is presented a letter of recognition by Towanda mayor Garrett Miller. </caption1><photoCredit1>Matt Mattei | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_fix1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bradley Fulmer, Aprylle Gilbert, Garrett Miller and Jose Reyes gather for a photo in front of the Red Rose Diner. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_fix1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Bradley Fulmer, Aprylle Gilbert, Garrett Miller and Jose Reyes gather for a photo in front of the Red Rose Diner. </caption2><photoCredit2>Matt Mattei | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_ashlyn1.jpg1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Aprylle Gilbert takes a picture with Ashlyn Fulmer before turning to a big breakfast plate inside the Red Rose Diner. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_ashlyn1.jpg1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Aprylle Gilbert takes a picture with Ashlyn Fulmer before turning to a big breakfast plate inside the Red Rose Diner. </caption3><photoCredit3>Matt Mattei | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>San Jose woman runs along U.S. Route 6 to raise money for disadvantaged children</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or <a href="mailto:mmattei@www.timesleader.com">mmattei@www.timesleader.com</a></p></shirttailMeta></div>

Woman crosses country on U.S. Route 6, stops in Towanda