100 Miles to Build a Bridge
We are excited to officially launch The Beautiful Feet Project with this film, 100 Miles to Build a Bridge, by Eric Lindstrom. The film really delves into the story of why Mario runs and the desire to use the platform of influence to build unity and positivity between cultures. The film will air again on Oregon’s CBS and ABC Channels this Christmas and New Years before going online. There will a few local showings in Bend in the meantime.
Official Film here: 100 Miles to Build a Bridge
Connecting the dots:
It’s neat to see steps of faith connect and bring fruit. As the passion to build unity between cultures grew, we simply started taking steps, whether big or small, towards this goal. It started with invitations to do talks, sometimes sermons, within the community of Central Oregon, and the community of Jiquilpan (Mexico). This lead to more invitations and opportunities to help at youth camps and also coach at Bend High School. As momentum built, opportunities to share stories at local events continued to open up, and a few articles started covering some of the stories. Outdoor Central Oregon brought a full feature on Mario’s achievements as a runner, but more importantly, the desire to do more with this platform.
Meanwhile, in Cambria, Steve Kniffen, a running enthusiast, dreamed of seeing someone run 100 miles from Cambria to Carmel along Highway 1. Over the next four years of trying to bring this dream to reality, he was unable to find someone willing to complete this feat. Then, a bridge fell, and a mudslide happened, which shut down Highway for almost 2 years. Steve’s seed of an idea had to be put on hold until the timing was right.
in 2018, literally 1 day before the reopening of Highway 1, Steve came across an article, “Cambria’s Mario Mendoza…” in Cambria’s local newspaper (The Tribune) and knew he had found his guy! Not only was Mario a local and the right fit, but they shared a common view of how endurance events and faith interact.
After a series of planning and dreaming, we all met and person and decided this was meant to happen. Why keep waiting, let’s do it this year! The event aligned with our passion to give back to community and with Steve’s passion to bring a grueling endurance event to Cambria. We knew only 4 months of planning was not ideal for participation but the goal was never about the numbers.
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Back in Central Oregon, Eric Lindstrom from Central Oregon Daily reached out to Mario via facebook about creating a documentary. At first we were surprised and wondered if this could be a joke! Turns out it wasn’t. Eric had read the “Building Bridges” feature in Central Oregon Magazine that had come out in the June/July edition and really wanted to delve into the story and capture it on film!
Mario began filming hours and hours of footage with Eric. As the event in Cambria was approaching, we decided this needed to be apart of the film too because it would highlight an important aspect of Mario’s story. However after being a part of the run, Eric was so inspired that he decided it had to be the key driving story of the film he would produce. He did an incredible job piecing it all together and cannot wait to share it.
We arrived in Cambria a couple days before the run. Mario was able to speak at his high school, Coast Union High and catch up with old friends and teachers. Eric got to speak and give some filming tips to the Coast Union film class, who will also be creating their perspective of the event.
The Run Begins
On November 10th, beginning at midnight, Mario ran 100miles in 16.5 hrs along trails, the sandy coastline, roads and highways beginning in Los Osos and finishing in Cambria, CA. People were invited to join to run, walk, or bike a portion of the route with Mario; however long they were able. Mario only ran 25 miles by himself. For 75 miles of this run he always had at least 2 runners encouraging him. Students from Coast Union High Film Class were scattered along the course capturing awesome footage. Eric rode alongside Mario in various spots filming while balancing on a motorized skateboard! The whole community came together to put on this event to celebrate and be a part of bigger purpose than to run: to remember why we must run with perseverance even when we face challenges along the way, to remember that we are stronger together and need one another regardless of our abilities, backgrounds and differences; to remember to always strive toward building others up as we share in joys and struggles. This run was about never giving up, moving forward in action one step at a time so we can all reach the finish together.
In the end the numbers happened and definitely not from our own doing. This 100 mile run turned out to be much bigger than we imagined.
Here is a great recap article of the “Run to Bridge Cultures” that was published in The Tribune
Over the course of these past few months it has been incredible to watch this story unfold. All we did was jump in! (Well Mario ran 100 miles, that was pretty tough). But this run was so much more than a run. The way God works and moves in people’s lives, intertwines and connects things down to the last detail is something so beautiful, mind blowing and absolutely fun to watch. We are so blessed, encouraged and grateful to all who made this happen and can’t wait to see how this film will reach people for His glory.