newjerseynewsroom.com

BY JERRY MILANI

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

There will be many tales at this weekend’s New Jersey Marathon of people running for others, or running for a higher cause. But Swedish freelance writer Anders Forselius will be not just running for someone – he will literally be carrying someone else with him on the Jersey Shore course.

That someone is Alex Blackburn, a 12-year-old California boy who died 10 years ago of a virus, and “The Biking Viking” has been carrying the boy’s ashes with him since he met Alex’s mom while staying at a youth hostel in Santa Cruz, Calif., a few years ago. Forselius, who is in the midst of a global journey to run and bike 15,000 miles (he completed the Boston Marathon last week) and raise money for cancer research, is honoring Alex’s dying wish by scattering some of the boys ashes in all corners of the globe.

“It was an amazing story his mom told,” Forselius relayed earlier this week while staying with friends in Morris County. “Here was this boy who loved life, went through a heart transplant and made everyone around him better, and he was taken by a virus after all that, at age 12. His mom worked in a youth hostel I was staying in while running in California and she told me his last wish was to be taken to ‘see’ the corners of the world, so that’s what I am trying to do, bring Alex and his amazing story with me everywhere I go.”

The Swede is also writing a book about the people he has met along the way, and the donations he is raising, with the hopes of inspiring others to live a life of love and happiness like the young Blackburn did, even though they never met and he passed away at such a young age.

The 43-year-old has competed in marathons around the world, from Brazil to Athens and many stops in between, and has just started his latest trek across America in Boston. New Jersey will be the second stop. He is one of several Swedes competing in the race on Sunday. 25 countries will be represented among the over 11,000 participants. He has embarked on a transcontinental excursion that will see him compete in races from Seattle to Minnesota before eventually finishing his trip at the ING New York City Marathon in November, all the while with Alex’s ashes and his spirit in tow.

Forselius said he averages about 65 miles per day on his bicycle as part of his training, a Trek hybrid, and is able to find lodging by seeking out firehouses and rescue squads, in addition to many friends he has made along the way. He chose to include New Jersey on his list this year because of nearby friends and the amazing route along the ocean, “which will inspire anyone to do their best.”

The money he is raising along his route will go to Fred’s Team, the cancer charity in memory of the late New York City Marathon Director Fred Lebow, who passed away from brain cancer.

“If I can use this series of races to help tell Alex’s story and fulfill his wish of seeing the world through me, then I will have done a good job,” he added. “His mom really inspired me with the story, and made me think how wonderful a life he must have had, so now I can help tell others what made him so happy, and maybe it will help change their lives as well.”

“The sense of purpose and charity is what makes our races so special,” said Race Director Art Castellano. “People come from all over not just to run, but to enjoy the experience of all the communities that we go through and the people they will meet along the way.”

Perhaps no person will have a more unique story – or running companion – than “The Biking Viking.” Details of Forselius’s ongoing adventure can be found at www.bikingviking.se.