As we near the holiest week of the year, I would like to share some exciting news with you, as well as a video produced by the Sebaste team.

Some of you may be aware of the Via Magna, a 3500 mile, 100 day pilgrimage begun in January in Southern California and soon to end on Low Sunday at the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, NY.

Jonathan Kuplack has been running thirty-five miles a day for 83 days. He has traversed over deserts and mountains in all manner of weather.

He has had many people join him for portions of the run: friends, family, high school and college students. All have run anything from three miles to a marathon. None have joined him for a full day of thirty-five miles until last weekend.

On April 4th, the boys of St. Andrew’s headed north to Cleveland to lend their feet and legs to a day on the run.

Our mission? To do what was possible. And for some, what they thought was impossible. 

We have been training for the last few weeks in PE, though with time constraints we have only been able to muster three to five mile runs. Nonetheless, their bodies were being trained and the excitement mounted. Throughout our sessions the boys would nervously ask: “So how fast will Johnny be running? How many breaks will he take? How many miles do you think I can do for the Via Magna?” I would answer to the best of my ability but I could not prepare them (or myself) for what was to come.

Beginning in the early afternoon, a few lads with minor injuries fell out with our support van after a few miles. We waded through sections of trail that had been flooded and many completed the half marathon, but that benchmark saw another drop in runners. At mile twenty-five, we had a core of eight still on the trail. Four of these boys would go on for the full thirty-five. At about thirty-three miles all the boys who were able hopped out of the vans and joined in for the final stretch.

We ran the last five miles at a faster pace than we ran the first ten. 

It was a day of stretching personal boundaries and breaking mental barriers. All the boys without exception doubled, tripled, or quadrupled the distance they thought they could do, and none thought they could run the full thirty-five. Four did.

I can certainly tell you that I am proud to have these boys as my students and profoundly grateful that we all had the opportunity to partake in such a great and inspiring adventure. An adventure that doesn’t rest on the laurels of one day in April of 2025, but pushes us to ask the question: “If I can do that, what else can I do?” 

May God bless you during this final stretch of the Lenten tide and may we all rise with the Glorious Christ on Easter morning!

Thank you for your continued support!

Pax,
Patrick Kuplack