[Lifestyle] The real life Forrest Gump: why did Rob Pope run across the US five times?

[L-MOK7H]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/31/the-real-life-forrest-gump-why-did-bob-pope-run-across-the-us-five-times

Forrest Gump’s wisdom has inspired many of us, but Rob Pope took that a step further, dressing as his hero for the run of his life. But why? And what did he learn?

Will Coldwell
@will_coldwell
Sun 31 Oct 2021 13.00 GMT
On 15 September 2016, Rob Pope, a chipper veterinarian from Liverpool, sat down in the chair of Fluke’s Barbers in Mobile, Alabama, and readied himself for a haircut. “So what would you like?” the barber asked him. Pope held up a photo of Forrest Gump. It had taken years of planning for Pope to embark on this trip to America, to make it to this barber’s chair. He’d spent countless hours daydreaming about it, building the momentum to go. As his job became ever more miserable – he was working 13-hour days, five days a week – the urge to escape became insurmountable. He quit and, along with his partner and fellow vet, Nadine, headed west.

In many ways, the seed for this adventure was sown in 2002. That was the year Pope’s mum, Cathy, died after a cancer diagnosis. Cathy was a medical laboratory scientific officer and a single parent. She raised Pope with grit, determination and heartfelt support of his passion: running. He’d shown promise at the sport since his school days when he took part in the oft-dreaded cross-country and excelled at it. Cathy would take him to his races, which soon became marathons. Marathons after marathons. To Pope she was a best friend, a rock, an inspiration, a support-crew leader. Before she died she asked him to make a promise: “Do one thing in your life that makes a difference.” These words echoed in his mind as he sat in that Alabamabarbershop, awaiting his turn beneath the clippers.

Pope dressed as Forrest Gump at Bayou la Batre, Alabama.
Shore to shore: Pope as Gump at Bayou la Batre, Alabama. Photograph: Nadine Pope/PR
A brisk buzz later, Pope stepped out on to the street. His hair was groomed into a “high and tight”, as the barber described it, and he was decked head to toe in Gump attire: chinos, checked shirt and a brand new pair of white Nike Cortez sneakers. He donned his red Bubba Gump Shrimp Co cap and, well, started to run. Just like Forrest Gump, he didn’t stop until he’d run across America almost five times.

Even if you’ve never seen the film or read the book you’ve probably heard of Forrest Gump. Gump is one of those archetypal screen characters who captured the public imagination. Like Rocky or Mia Wallace or BA Baracus, he mostly exists as a jumble of catchphrases and easy-to-assembl fancy-dress party accessories: “My mama always said, life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” That’s classic Gump. “What’s normal anyways?” That’s another. Then we have the most iconic quote from the film, though it was not actually uttered by Gump himself: “Run, Forrest, run!”

This was a DIY operation. Pope had no sponsors and the budget was tight
The character originated in a novel by Winston Groom, published in 1986. It tells the story of a man born in Mobile, Alabama with a low IQ who innocently drifts through several decades of social churn. Gump pops up in the Vietnam war and plays ping-pong in China. Oh, and there’s Jenny, his first-grade crush and lifelong love. Naturally, the book did poorly. The 1994 film, however, starring Tom Hanks, was a hit and won six Oscars, including best picture, best director and best actor.

The film’s pièce de résistance – an iconic sequence in contemporary Gump-lore and the moment that created a spark of inspiration in Pope’s mind – was a scene that didn’t occur in the book. It almost didn’t appear in the film either. The sequence only exists because