A 29-year-old Air Force veteran juggling his way across the entire country on foot passed through the Enon region on day 136 of his journey, a stretch covering more than 2,800 miles from a Santa Monica pier to the heart of Times Square. Neriah Guerin hit the area on October 14, having not taken a single day off since he started walking back on June 1.
Guerin's march through Clark County was documented by the Springfield News-Sun, which reported he plans to reach Times Square by November 21. Guerin, who calls his campaign the Mettle Ball Run, launched the trip from the Santa Monica Pier on June 1, a name that plays on cross-country endurance races like Cannonball Run and Steel Ball Run while nodding to his own physical test, according to the International Jugglers' Association. Just before entering Clark County and Enon, Guerin stopped for the night at the Hope Hotel & Richard C. Holbrooke Conference Center near Fairborn and Dayton, which provided his lodging and publicly highlighted his push to get people outside, according to the hotel.
Juggling as a Way of Life, Not a Stunt
The International Jugglers' Association says Guerin learned to juggle in 2020, began juggling in earnest in 2023, and had 14 years of experience in prop manipulation-based arts, in which objects become extensions of the body. He learned flag and rifle spinning in high school color guard before serving in the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard, where he became a five-time World Drill Champion in rifle exhibition and performed with the military drill team at Madison Square Garden and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the International Jugglers' Association notes. He took up juggling in 2020, and told the Springfield News-Sun that every job he's held has felt like a stepping stone toward the kind of art project he's now attempting.
His previous performance work, he said, prepared him for the physical and mental demands of walking roughly 15 miles a day while juggling without rest. Guerin said nobody has completed this exact journey before and that he hopes to set a record for it, though he has framed the trek as a personal quest rather than an officially adjudicated attempt.
A Message About Screens Versus Sidewalks
Guerin hopes to inspire people to enjoy the outdoors more and wants to use his social media platforms, including his TikTok account under the username mettleballrun, to encourage people to go outside and play more often, per the same report. He said people need outdoor physical experiences in social settings in an increasingly digital age.
That message lands against a backdrop of national health data. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published in April showed only 47.2% of U.S. adults met federal guidelines for aerobic physical activity in 2024, according to American Heart Association News; those guidelines call for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week. The contrast between screen time and exercise echoes Guerin's call for more outdoor activity. A CDC study has also found that only 16% of adults in rural areas meet federal benchmarks for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity, compared with 28% of adults in large metro areas, according to SGB Media Online.
Dogs, Rain, and the Kindness of Strangers
Guerin told the Springfield News-Sun he gets stopped as many as 10 times a day by curious onlookers, though he sometimes goes a few-day stretch without being asked a single question. He said he has not experienced serious rain on the journey, but has been chased by a couple of dogs that weren't in fenced yards, forcing him to stop juggling and run. In southwestern Colorado, a dog nearly bit him before its owner called it away; he has had no dog problems since.
His grandparents supported him during the first couple months of the trip through desert and mountain terrain, and friends along with his wife will be there to greet him at the finish in New York. Guerin accepts donations to support the trip and sells items on his website, with proceeds going toward the excursion, telling the paper the journey has been made possible through people's kindness and hospitality along the way.
How His Pace Stacks Up
Guerin's effort echoes, without directly chasing, a deep history of endurance feats on foot. The fastest documented transcontinental walk from Los Angeles to New York City was completed in 1972 by British athlete John Lees, who covered the 2,891-mile route in 53 days, 12 hours and 15 minutes, averaging more than 50 miles a day with a support vehicle, according to the Victorian Race Walking Club. Guerin's own pace, closer to 15 miles a day while continuously juggling, is built around endurance and message rather than speed.
The athletic niche of joggling, or juggling while running, has its own record book. Boston University track athlete Zach Prescott holds the record for joggling a mile while juggling three lacrosse balls, clocking 4 minutes, 43.2 seconds in 2018, according to CITIUS Mag, breaking a record that had stood for 32 years. Guerin's walk, by contrast, trades speed for sheer distance and daily consistency across a continent.
The International Jugglers' Association says Guerin plans to finish the walk on December 10, then hold a Central Park event on December 11 featuring a 50-mile ultramarathon.
