GRANDVIEW, Iowa (KWQC) — Most college students spend their spring break somewhere warm, or perhaps head back home to spend quality time with mom and dad. However, a student at Northern Iowa University decided to spend his spring attempting to break a record.
Paul Noble starts a race in Iowa on Sunday morning in Muscatine.
“Last year I had [running across the state] And I thought it would be fun to go after it,” Paul said.
UNI Sophistication will run on Iowa State Highway 92 for most of its journey. The fastest known run time in Iowa — four days, 15 hours, 32 minutes and 15 seconds — is with Taylor Ross joining Paul on Monday to help with his pace.
Paul said it’s great to have Ross’s support along the way.
“That’s awesome, he called me last night, wishing me all the best,” Paul said. It’s definitely helpful.”
It’s not just Ross’s help, Paul picked up a sponsorship – Charlotte’s Kitchen in Johnston, which was owned by his cousin.
Meanwhile, Paul’s mom, dad and girlfriend accompany him with food and water for the break. They caught him at Grandview after 8 a.m.
Paul’s mother, Tracy Noble, said, “Paul always sets high, lofty goals.” “We never know what he’s going to do, we just wanted to be here because he needed some help along the way.”
Paul’s girlfriend said the cross-state run was not the way she envisioned spending her spring break.
“It’s always something with him,” said Sam Parr. “When he told me about it in the beginning, I was like, ‘Okay, that makes sense.'”
Paul received a few years of training, running a few ultra-marathons that got up to this point.
Paul’s father said it was great to see him grow in the running community.
“It’s a lot of fun. He’s got a lot of support,” said Tom Noble. “It’s definitely worth watching your kid shoot for a target and hopefully be able to hit it.”
If everything goes according to plan then Paul should finish his race on Wednesday around 9 PM
From the sound of it, Paul has a good playlist to play with.
“I was banging some T-Swifts this morning,” said Paul. “Some Podcasts – ‘Wash Up Walk-Ons.'”
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