This past spring, Eric Kiewlak, CPH ’20, joined his best friend, Andrew Linder, and a crew of others on a historic 3,100-mile run across the country. Linder wore a 15-pound vest throughout the 79-day trek. That 15-pound vest signified a fraction of the weight that victims of human trafficking carry every single day.  

“There are many children and adults who are affected by human trafficking as it occurs in every single zip code in the country,” said Kiewlak. “I became passionate about helping Andrew grow a platform to help people who weren’t able to help themselves.” 

After Kiewlak graduated with a bachelor of science degree in kinesiology from Temple's College of Public Health, he co-founded an online coaching business, Running Past Motivation (RPM), that offers training on nutrition and how to get in peak shape to run marathons.  

“I gained a strong work ethic at Temple, and I continue to apply that to all aspects of my life,” said Kiewlak, who played wide receiver for Temple football. “Temple is a prestigious school and as a student-athlete, you had to balance classes and athletics for almost 365 days out of the year. That really pushes you to the limit and prepares you for life after graduating.”  

Intending to raise $250,000 for the nonprofit Sisters Rising Worldwide, the team began its journey at Santa Monica Pier in California, running through 13 states, including Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.  

Avoiding major highways, Kiewlak and the crew woke up every day at 4 or 5 a.m. to begin their daily journey. They made sure they had plenty of water, protein mix bars and other nutritious foods to complete a run of 42 miles per day.  

The crew of six lived out of a Land Rover for the first seven days and scrambled for hotels at night. They were forced to run on a side road of a major interstate highway from Indio, California, because that was the only road that would get them to Phoenix, Arizona.  

“The road was like 300 miles with cars going 90–100 miles an hour,” Kiewlak said. “There were not many bathrooms or spots where you could turn around and rest.” 

The crew ran through the middle of the Arizona desert in March, where temperatures can fluctuate from 30 degrees at 6 a.m. to 80 degrees by 11 a.m. Similarly, in New Mexico, some of the crew ran through 8 inches of snow that fell the night before, and then by noon, temperatures would reach 90 degrees.  

“We were fighting a mentally and physically exhausting battle from the sweltering heat to the bitter cold,” he said. “The team had to fend off the wild dogs in New Mexico, and we had to sprint across the Arizona desert containing piles of rattlesnakes to get back to a road. 

“Some days, Linder’s shins, feet and ankles were swelled up where we were going inches at a time with walking sticks to ensure we reached our miles per day goal,” he added.  

In Arizona, the crew secured an RV wrapped with their fundraiser’s “Pier to Park” logo and QR code for people to send donations. However, Kiewlak was blown away by the swirling wind speeds that clocked 40–70 mph as the team ran on the dirt roads and the flat surface plains of Kansas before arriving in Missouri.  

As they traveled through Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, Kiewlak said it was a great feeling because they knew their home state of Pennsylvania and the finish line were near.  

“Originally, we weren’t going to go through Philadelphia, but would stay north toward Allentown and Harrisburg before entering New Jersey,” said Kiewlak. “I told the team if we are going 3,100 miles across the country, we must add Philly and my hometown of Bucks County to the journey. 

“I proudly went to school in Philly at Temple and everybody we know is in Bucks County, so we had to make it happen,” he added.  

On May 13, when Kiewlak arrived in Philly, he added they received an “insane” amount of support from all four major news stations (FOX29, NBC10, CBS3 and 6ABC) in the city, covering their cause. Police had escorted the team from West Chester to Philadelphia, running with a group of 100 people behind them through the Philadelphia Museum of Art and down Broad Street to City Hall.  

Kiewlak and Linder later returned to Conwell-Egan Catholic High School in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, where they attended high school. They wore their old high school football jerseys and ran with members of Cowell-Egan’s football and track and field teams.  

The team was cheered on to their final destination of New York City, where people in the city and members of the United States Capital Police arrived from Washington, D.C., to run the final miles of the journey with the team.  

The Pier to Park team ended up raising more than $110,000 for Sisters Rising Worldwide.