Barefoot or Barefaced?
Back in August 2009, Tellman Knudson sent out a press release announcing he would run barefoot from New York to Los Angeles to raise $100 million for homeless youth.
Today, a Vermont newspaper reports Knudson spent four months and $500,000 in road expenses to reach West Virginia, then returned to his Vermont home to “regroup.” Now he has to explain to the Internal Revenue Service how he’s collecting donations without being registered as a non-profit organization.
If Knudson’s charity seems a bit hinky, so does his Internet marketing business OvercomeEverything.com. The Rutland Herald lists some of Knudson’s consumer problems here.
Turns out his running mileage didn’t stand up to scrutiny either.
Off camera, however, Knudson wasn’t running his promised 26 miles a day. He didn’t hit that goal until Oct. 25, his Web site reports, then dropped to seven miles on Oct. 26, three miles on Oct. 27 and no miles on Oct. 28, when he took one of several multiday breaks because of problematic weather or persistent foot injuries.
Maybe this is all a misunderstanding and bad luck. Maybe Knudson really is a caring philanthropist. But I would suggest that if you want to give money to support homeless youth, donate to the organizations that provide them with direct services. And do your research, regardless.
Since we barefooters are a gossipy bunch (all that “being in touch with nature” brings out our sensitive side; we get together regularly for tea and a game of Bridge), I’m familiar with Tellman. There was much fraudster vs hero debate from the get go. My personal uninformed take is that he’s got more ambition than sense, and believes his own sales pitch. Not one to be bothered by reality and other such minor details.
The guy thought he could run back to back to back marathons barefoot after only a few months of shoelessness. Hate to be a downer, but it’s not that easy.
As far as the charity goes, he was never very clear how he planned to allocate the $100 million he would receive from random donations. I think a real scammer would make the front a little more realistic.
Which reminds me – I’m running barefoot in my neighborhood, between 4 and 10 miles a day, to raise money for the Why Do We Have Three Dogs Kibble Fund. Can I put you down for a Jefferson or two?
$500,000 in road expenses over just four months?!?! Man, that’s a LOT of GU.