Run Forrest Run: Facts Behind The Movie Of The Man From Alabama

Run Forrest, Run Forrest, Go Forrest

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Everyone knows that Forrest can run and Drake even implied it in one of his songs too. But, Forrest’s cross-country run was inspired by a real-life event. At just 16 years old, Louis Michael Figueroa ran all the way across the United States from New Jersey to San Francisco. The story is rather uplifting.

In 1982, the teenager set off on foot from his state of New Jersey to raise awareness for the American Cancer Society. When Forrest says the line “When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I had to go the bathroom, I went”, that was the exact same thing Figueroa said during his run.