A man walking 3,000 miles across the US to make Scotland’s first World Cup game against Haiti in Boston has spoken about the one state he feels is ‘criminally underrated’. Craig Ferguson, 22, from Paisley, Scotland, set off from Los Angeles earlier this year on an enormous endurance challenge to raise awareness for mental health. His goal is to complete a full marathon every day for 104 straight days. Since starting back in February, Craig has travelled through a long list of states, taking on punishing landscapes and unpredictable weather along the way. Now deep into the trek, he’s around 2,600 miles in as he closes in on Boston, where he plans to watch Scotland at Gillette Stadium next month. And in true Scottish fashion, Craig has tackled the entire route — covering 18 states — wearing a kilt from start to finish. This week, Craig spoke during a break from the road while sitting in his RV, where he sleeps each night. The vehicle is driven by his friend Matthew, who supports the journey while Craig clocks up the miles on foot. After experiencing a wide range of scenery across the country, Craig singled out Utah for special praise, calling it ‘criminally underrated’. “I want to give an honorable mention to Utah, which I think is a criminally underrated state, just insanely beautiful with some of the best views you’ll ever see,” Craig explained to UNILAD. Utah was the third state Craig passed through. While it’s home to Salt Lake City, large stretches of it are sparsely populated and defined by open, rugged terrain. The state includes three major desert ecosystems — the Great Basin Desert, the Colorado Plateau, and the Mojave Desert — and is widely recognised for its dramatic, picture-perfect vistas. Still, Craig’s top pick so far is Colorado, where he says the scenery and the welcome he received made it stand out from the rest. “Colorado’s got to take the cake,” Craig said. “There was multiple reasons, the Rockies run all the way through Colorado so not only is it just completely beautiful, but once we got into Denver, which was celebrating the 1000 mile mark, we had a mini Scottish party and there was a lot of Scots. “We were playing all night in an Irish pub, listening to Scottish tunes, singing Loch Lomond, having some beers, and that was probably the first moment that both me and Matthew realized that there’s people out here who are really behind what we’re doing and that was such an amazing moment.” Following that night, Craig said Colorado now holds a ‘special place in my heart’. If everything stays on track, Craig is set to become the first person to walk the length of the US in a kilt on 13 June, just ahead of Scotland vs Haiti. You can donate to Craig’s fundraiser for Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) here. The post Man walking 3,000 miles through 18 states reveals which he thinks is ‘criminally underrated’ appeared first on Pulptastic.
