- Man walks 450km after stepping outside to cool off after fight with wife
- He earned the social media nickname ‘Forrest Gump’
- Fans praised his dedication to calming down
An Italian man walked 450 km – or around 280 miles – after stepping outside to calm down after a quarrel with his wife.
The whole journey ended up taking him around a week before it was brought to an abrupt end. This epic cool off quest earned the unnamed man the nickname Forrest Gump after many compared his trek to the run Tom Hanks’ character embarks upon in the 1994 film of the same name.
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The story originally occurred back in 2020 when Italy – and much of the world – was in the throes of lockdown following the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, the walker was fined around €400 ($455/£340) for breaking curfew.
As reported on many outlets at the time, local police were forced to stop the man in his tracks at around 2am in Fano on the Adriatic Coast. Originally, he had set off from Como in the North.
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When stopped by the authorities, the man explained “”I came here on foot, I didn’t use any transport.” He explained that his journey was aided by kind locals. “Along the way I met people who offered me food and drink.”
“I’m OK, just a bit tired.”
It’s believed he averaged around 60KM (37.2 miles) per day.
Fans praised his dedication to calming down
The story was originally picked up by Il Resto del Carline, a newspaper based in Bologna. It later went viral and fans started offering their thoughts on the fine that the man was issued.
Some suggested that it was unwarranted and that he should have been gifted a pair of new shoes instead. Meanwhile, others praised him for his decision to leave the house during a heated argument to ensure he cooled down.
Shortly after he was located, the man’s wife was informed and she travelled to Fano to pick him up. In the time between him leaving and being found, the man had been reported missing.
Fans reacted online
Meanwhile, when the story reached Reddit, fans of this so-called ‘Forrest Gump’ chimed in on his walk.
“Who among us hasn’t walked into a different timezone after a spousal disagreement?,” joked one user.
Meanwhile, one person broke down the logistics to suggest that the whole thing was strangely do-able.
“Average walking speed is ~3.5 MPH. To cover 280 miles would take 80 hours or 3.3 days of walking. Yep, that is normal and can be done without any preplanning.”
“Walk Forest, walk,” added a third.
