Why a 64-year-old is running entire length of NJ, and what he wants from you

Sixty-four-year-old Ray Pinney is in better shape than most New Jersey residents, and he'll be putting it to good use in April.

The Boonton resident is one of three men planning to run from the southernmost point in New Jersey to the northernmost point in the state — a 196-mile journey, in honor of a nonprofit that was sparked by the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

The charitable mission is expected to last 64 hours. Pinney, along with Toms River resident Anthony Certa and Netcong resident Dave Maxwell, are scheduled to start their run in the morning hours of April 19 at the Cape May Lighthouse, and conclude at High Point Monument in Wantage in the evening hours of April 21.

"We figure we'll probably be going pretty slow at the end," Pinney told New Jersey 101.5.

Pinney and Certa ran the same route in 2022, but from north to south. Maxwell joined them for the last 50 miles.

"This is actually a bigger challenge than that run was, because we will need to gain elevation from sea level to approximately 1,803 feet as we travel from south to north," Pinney said.

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Much of the run will occur along Route 206, which travels through several New Jersey counties.

Every eight to 10 miles, Pinney said, the crew will stop to replenish supplies. A vehicle will be driving along the runners with whatever they may need.

Pinney hopes to take two "sleep breaks" during the mission, of three or four hours each.

"The hardest part is ... at 3 in the morning when its dark and you have a headlamp on and you're just trudging," Pinney said. "You have to just put one foot in front of the other."

The challenging effort aims to raise money for Dylan's Wings of Change, which is dedicated to Dylan Hockley, one of the first-grade victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012.

Also, Pinney is asking people to perform a random act of kindness. Inspired by the generosity of people he encountered during his first statewide run, Pinney is referring to round 2 as the New Jersey Kindness Run.

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