MAXWELL, Iowa — A volunteer cross country coach at Collins-Maxwell High School now holds the title for the fastest known time to run across Iowa, and it was all for a good cause.

Robbie Erickson announced earlier this year that he will undergo the longest ultramarathon of his life by running across the state to help fundraise for his athletes. Over spring break, Erickson ran east from Omaha, Nebraska, to Muscatine, Iowa, along Highway 92.

While the journey was life-changing, it came with several bumps in the road. The first started on the very first day. Erickson planned to start the race on Wednesday, March 19th, but Mother Nature had other plans.

“There was a blizzard in Omaha that kind of went through Iowa and so I went ahead and pushed it back a day,” said Erickson. “I’ve ran and trained in enough blizzards to know how much it would slow me down.”

He was also worried he would be a hazard to other vehicles on the road. While the decision to delay the race wasn’t easy, he said it was necessary.

“It was like being a kid the night before Christmas and then all of a sudden on Christmas Eve you learn that there’s another Christmas Eve now. You have to wait one more day. And so, when I got to Omaha that Thursday morning, I was very ready to get going,” he said.

After much anticipation, his journey started on March 20th, and Erickson was quickly met with massive support from his own community and strangers.

One of the first Iowa communities he ran through was Griswold, a town of just under 1,000 people, which is roughly 44 miles from the Nebraska border. Almost immediately, he felt the support.

“Right when I rolled in, there was an SUV sitting right there, I think it was at a bank, and there’s two little girls in the back who I had never met in my life. And they’re holding up little signs,” he said.

And that ended up being a trend across the rest of Highway 92.

“Unless it was the middle of the night per se, there were people out supporting me along the way,” said Erickson. “I had everything from cross country athletes in high school or college to little six-year-old, seven-year-old girls join me for a mile. You know, I’m like, come on. How special is that stuff? And it just kept going throughout the whole entire state. It was beautiful.”

Erickson reached the Illinois border early Monday morning, surrounded by his family, his athletes, and strangers in the Muscatine community. Erickson laughed that he and his athletes ran to the wrong bridge, prolonging the journey with an extra mile.

He had a police escort in Muscatine and was met with an ambulance ready to take his vitals.

“That community of Muscatine, I love them. I’m forever going to be thankful for them,” he said.

In total, Erickson completed the ultramarathon in 3 days, 21 hours, and 10 minutes, beating the previously known time by 1 hour and 39 minutes.

Erickson said his plan was to run the journey with limited breaks. During the almost four-day journey, he only slept for roughly 3 hours and 15 minutes. The rest of his breaks were used to refuel and address problems he was facing.

“It ended up being the absolute perfect plan,” said Erickson. “I know for a fact someone’s going to take this plan that I have and just destroy my time, which I love. I’ll be out there with them when the next person comes about.”

But the journey wasn’t just for a title. Erickson started preparing for this marathon to raise money for his athletes at Collins-Maxwell High School. His goal was to raise $35,000 to get a timing system for the track-and-field/cross country program. The system would allow the high school to host cross country meets at home.

The fundraiser has since raised over $39,000 and Erickson said the extra funds will help them do more than they planned.

“We’re going to be able to have the best facility around now with the extra funds,” he said.

The extra funding will go towards creating a throwing area for the team’s track-and-field throwers and updating equipment in their concessions stand.

Erickson said one of his biggest takeaways from the journey was Iowa’s geography. While many call the state flat, he said Highway 92 is nothing but rolling hills.

His more serious takeaway throughout the 276-mile journey was that love will always prevail.

“It truly is, more or less, just a story of the power of love. My love for running got me where I am, my love for my community got me to where I am, their love for me helped me find the finish line. There’s a lot of love out there on the road, that’s for sure,” he said.

Erickson is now taking a small break from running to prepare for another huge journey ahead. He has his sights set on running across the country in 2027. The fastest known time for this journey is 42 days and 6 hours, and Erickson said it’s a touchable record.