| In 1990, in support of the
Olympic
Ideal, still training for international competition in two sports, Stephen
M. Apatow cycled 6000 miles to open the first toll free hotline for the
federal resource for drug and alcohol information (www.cycleacrossamerica.org).
Today, this project is recognized as the largest touch outreach ever coordinated
by the Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (now known as the Center for
Substance Abuse Prevention), a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
In 1993, he set out on his next
challenge, a 3000 mile "Run Across America," in a relay with Timothy Gannon,
also from Milford, Connecticut.
For 133 days, from Washington
D.C. to San Francisco, California, he participated in a run of 25-40 miles
per day, talks on community service for youth leadership programs and press
conferences.
The set itinerary left no room
for setbacks, injuries or obstacles, in order to finish the project at the
final press conference of the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in San Francisco,
California.
The next challenge was global,
following the formation of the nonprofit organization Humanitarian Resource
Institute.
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