Forrest Gump, a fan and the icon of the baseball cap.
It turns out that fanaticism sometimes drives human beings to set creative goals, which otherwise we might not feel the need to achieve.
Liverpool vet Robert Pope was spurred on by the character in Forrest Gump, a 1994 film starring Tom Hanks, to take his own tour of the East Coast west and back twice in a row.
The successful film, based on the 1986 novel by Winston Groom, which won 6 Oscars, prompted him on September 15, 2016 to start the journey that goes from a small town in Alabama called Mobile, passing through the Santa Monica pier, to the Marshall Point lighthouse in the state of Maine and then through San Francisco and the Utah desert, for a total of 24.783 kilometers in 409 days.
At the end of his feat, this British citizen addicted to running , covered the equivalent of 590 marathons in a row and achieved it accompanied by his favorite music, Bob Dylan, U2 or ACDC.
When asked about the reason for his tour, Robert Pope answers that the reasons were the same as those attributed to Forrest Gump, all of them, including peace in the world, fighting hunger or simply the need to help that arose from within. As in the movie, he was also prompted by the words in his head from his deceased mother, about doing something important that he could be remembered by the whole world. He completed this record for charitable purposes, and to which he came to raise almost 38.000 dollars, it is certainly a unique achievement that deserves all our respect.
Openly emulating the character of Forrest Gump, the marathon runner Robert Pope, seems guided by similar reasons, since after the death of his mother, he runs for the first time with the intention of not stopping until he gets his aim.
Robert Pope also emulates the physical aspect, all the clothing including the baseball cap included and not only the route, the slogan in this case “Run Robla Run ”.
Pope's tour and the most important places
From 'Mobile' in Alabama to the coast of 'Santa Monica', California.
Robert Pope, began his journey from 'Mobile' a city in southern Alabama, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and with a wide bay, where a warship that has been stranded is permanently stationed. become a tourist attraction that can be visited all year round. Following the route, it crosses the state of Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico to California, to reach the iconic Santa Monica Pier.
A few meters away, Pope was almost at the end of his journey, running into the sign indicating the end of the mythical route 66, "the Mother Road" that from Chicago, Illinois after having crossed 6 states in the heart of America, the great plains, the Grand Canyon, had done almost 4000 km.
Marshall Point Lighthouse
It is a station or light house that was built in 1832 in Maine and had to be completely rebuilt after it was literally cut in half by lightning in 1895. In 1971 it was automated and in 1990 it was opened to the public as a museum. The lighthouse has great charm, a white wooden walkway that rises over the rocks and the green hill from where a path leads you to a really small lighthouse, with its rounded shape painted white and a black dome. It is the precise place that, wrapped in mist, becomes the perfect place to write memories, meditate or have a picnic when the sun returns.
San Francisco
Famous for its popular 135-year-old cable cars running up and down its steep hills and colorful Victorian houses. It has one of the most iconic bridges in the world and the most famous in San Francisco, although it is not the longest in the city. The "Golden Gate" was built in 1937 to unite the north with the south of Marin County.
Its name comes from the strait it crosses and which has the same name. Did you know that this name was acquired from ancient Constantinople and means golden gate, because it was the entrance that connected Europe with Asia?
It was the largest engineering work of its time, since it built a 6-lane road supported by two 227-meter-high towers, where pedestrians, bicycles, cars, and motorcycles can circulate.
And as a curious note, to say that it was built with a then innovative process called “cable spinning” in which the steel cables are fixed in the concrete and passed from one side to the other as in a loom. Up to six months fixing cables to later give it the reddish appearance that characterizes it and the categorization of a suspension bridge that has earned the title of symbol of the city from the beginning. It was also the setting for Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Vertigo" in 1958. If you are interested in knowing more about the most spectacular corners of San Francisco, we leave you this link where we tell you everything.
The Utah desert
A division of Rocky Mountains located in the Western United States. It has an endless list of national parks, gardens, hiking trails, within it we highlight:
The “Arches National Park”, which is home to more than 2.000 stone arches, is one of the most famous attractions, classified as a natural spectacle that is never forgotten. It is where “Río Grande” in 1950 or “Thelma and Luise” in 1991, among many other films, were filmed.
The “Zion National Park”, which is the highest point of the park with 2.660 meters high is the "The Mountain Horse Ranch".
Or the “Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park”, an iconic symbol of the western United States, in the sacred heart of the Navajo Nation. Its elders say that it is their ancestral spirits that have sculpted these sandstone masterpieces up to 300 meters high that Hollywood has used so much for the "western" genre and beyond.
It is for obvious reasons that in these places, after having made so many film directors fall in love, they have served to shoot the scenes of hundreds of films.
After having taken a good walk through the wonderful wilderness of the United States and aired our ideas, we have a little something left to tell you.
The animals typical of this desert are kangaroos, foxes, bears... that made us think about how animal life represents each and every one of us humans and why we decided on Hanukeii get inspired by her to design our caps.
Forrest Gump's cap icon of baseball caps
This time it is clear that the protagonist's cap becomes necessary, it is no longer just a place to put the brand's logo or what you feel identified with. If not, by becoming something that is used with its own meaning, we make it ours. Take what our being needs to make it our own, which indirectly distinguishes us and at the same time projects the image of oneself that we like and satisfy us.
So as individuals we need to differentiate ourselves and feel authentic. For this reason, a good piece of advice for personal style is to purchase an accessory, such as a cap or another type of element to make it your seal, so that you are recognized and identified.
At Hanukeii we like baseball caps and we have been inspired by animals, their natural perspiration and what that each one of them represents, go barefoot through life with no more worries than the truly important ones that are related to survival itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the spaghetti western film genre?
It is a genre that has seduced countless film directors throughout history and continues to do so with modern versions of them. Originally they were low-budget films, most of them were recorded in Spain and Italy, because there were cheaper locations than those in the United States.
For example, such well-known titles as “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, “Death Had a Price” and “A Fistful of Dollars” were shot in an American West of towns and taverns rebuilt in the desert from Almeria.
2. Why is Forrest Gump a running icon?
It is because with his mythical phrases, he teaches runners to enjoy the road without setting a goal. It has been verified by specialists that marathon runners, when they have completed two thirds of the race, feel great mental and physical weakness that insinuates the doubt that they will not be able to finish the race. The origin of this phenomenon is the fact of having pre-established a goal to which the mind imposes a new limit.
Forrest Gump runs without a precise reason, because he feels the need to start running without asking himself why, he simply ate when he was hungry, slept when he was sleepy and when he had to do what you know, he did it.
