Professional ultra runner Michael Wardian made his way through Jackson County on Thursday and Friday during his transcontinental run from San Francisco, California, to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Long-distance running, also known as ultramarathoning or ultra running, covers any distance longer than that of a standard marathon; therefore, any run longer than 26.2 miles is an ultramarathon, according to ultrarunning.com.

Wardian’s adventure began May 1, as he began his longest run ever, attempting to cross the country on U.S. 50 in 75 days while raising money for World Vision’s clean water projects around the world.

Annie Ferret, Team World Vision Indy area local coach, said Wardian has been following U.S. 50 through some of the most remote parts of the country, traveling through 13 states and covering more than 3,200 miles.

“Michael’s goal is to raise $100,000 for World Vision’s clean water work around the globe for children and families to have access to clean and safe drinking water,” Ferret said. “This run is called ‘Running Home’ because he has always wanted to run home on Highway 50.”

Wardian lives about 400 meters off of U.S. 50 in Arlington, Virginia.

Ferret said Wardian is a firm believer that all people deserve clean water, which leads to fullness of life, so he partnered with World Vision to raise funds because the organization is the largest nongovernmental provider of clean water on the planet.

“We are thrilled that Michael is making this journey for an incredible cause,” Ferret said. “Team World Vision activates walkers, runners and handcyclers across the nation to step through fear to train for half and full marathons while also fundraising to help end the global water crisis.”

She said it’s inspiring to link arms with a professional ultra runner who is doing something epic for something so much bigger than his own fame or accolades. Wardian is running around 50-plus miles per day and hopes to finish July 4.

On Friday morning in parking lot of Tractor Supply Co. in Seymour, Wardian was scheduled to make a stop. A World Vision tent was set up there, and about a dozen people gathered to meet him and cheer him on.

Brenda Hardesty and Catherine Horton were there as members of The Point. They also are part of the World Vision team at the Seymour church, and they recently participated with about 60 others in a 6K race for the World Vision organization.

Marykate Helmsing and her son Owen, 7, were there to cheer Wardian on, too.

“Some of our friends are running with him from Brownstown, including Annie Ferret, who works for Team World Vision and has been a champion of the cause,” Helmsing said. “So we said we’d be here to cheer them all on. We participated in the 6K, too, and Owen has been learning how kids have to walk just to get dirty water, so we’re trying to help them get clean water.”

Owen said he likes to run and sometimes spends the entire recess running around the playground. He and a few others had cowbells in hand, waiting for Wardian’s arrival.

On Thursday evening, the ultra runner and his crew were guests at Burton’s Maplewood Farm in Medora. Tim and Angie Burton own and operate the farm where they produce maple syrup.

Their son, Greg Burton, said he had been doing some jogging and running over the last few months and heard Wardian being interviewed on a podcast.

“Michael was being interviewed by Tom Holland while running somewhere in Utah or Nevada, and I thought I should look him up before he got to Indiana,” Burton said. “I knew his route would be bringing him through Jackson County, so I reached out to him a couple of weeks ago and told him if they needed a place to stay, they could stay at my family’s farm.”

Burton said he wanted to meet Wardian and his crew and basically wanted to extend a little Hoosier hospitality.

“I met up with him Thursday out by State Road 135 and Highway 50 by the Jackson County Highway Department, where his day ended,” he said. “So they followed me up to the farm where we had some dinner and ordered in, as well. They were a really nice crew.”

The crew is Michael’s father, Dick Wardian, and crew chief Eric Belz, and they were all very appreciative and said it was only the second time they had stayed in a home during this whole thing, Burton said.

“They were traveling with a Class C motorhome, and I told them I knew what it was like being out on the road and looking for some form of comfort and familiarity,” he said. “They came in and took showers and said those were the best showers they’d had. Then we sat around and talked, and it was fantastic.”

Burton said Wardian is an accomplished athlete and has several Guinness World Records under his belt.

“He won a competition where he ran a marathon in seven different continents in seven days,” Burton said. “He’d run a marathon, get on a plane, then head to the next continent.”

That was the 2017 World Marathon Challenge, where Wardian began with a marathon in Antarctica and ended in Australia seven days later. In between, he ran marathons in Chile, the United States, Madrid, Morocco and Dubai.

Wardian said running was not his first sport. Instead, he grew up a lacrosse player and played Division I at Michigan State University.

He started running in 1995 with the goal of running the Boston Marathon once. That decision changed his life forever. Running has taken him all over the world, and he still can’t believe he is a professional runner, competing all over the world and has finished more than 300 marathons and ultramarathons, he said.

“Now, I’m running for World Vision because of their clean water project, and I also work with them as a shipbroker in their international food distribution,” Wardian said. “So I knew them through my professional life, and I have also seen what a huge impact World Vision can make.”

He said running through the heatwave in Indiana last week was a challenge because it was really, really hot.

“Each day, we went through about 40 pounds of ice and lots of lemonade and Barq’s root beer,” Wardian said. “Thursday, we stopped at Jiffy Treet for ice cream.”

Wardian said his stay at the Burn farm was a really incredible experience and probably one of the most unique things he has done in his life.

“I’m not even a maple syrup person, and now, I think I am,” he said. “I’m like converted and I didn’t even know there was maple syrup in this part of the country.”

He said the only other time he has been in Indiana was when he was attending Michigan State and they played lacrosse against Butler, but it’s his first time being in the southern part of the state.

Wardian chronicles each day of his transcontinental run on his Facebook and Instagram page. Friday night’s post read: “Day 48 – 51.65 miles, Brownstown, Indiana to Versailles, Indiana. We needed today. I woke up so happy to have met everyone at Burton’s Maplewood Farm, but I was struggling at the start. It was hot and humid, but I just kept moving, and as soon as I got company, the weather changed, and company made the miles pass by. I loved today. So appreciate you all.”

Wardian said if they can raise $100,000 for World Vision, they can impact more than 2,000 people. Donations can be made online by typing in Michael Wardian Runs Across America (teamworldvision.org) or on Instagram @mikewardian with a link in his bio to donate to @worldvisonusa.

Follow Wardian in real time at share.garmin.com/michaelwardian, and learn more about him at mikewardian.com.