Joe Hall is walking across America to raise awareness for mental health.
Hall was diagnosed with depression in 2007. While he tried anti-depressants originally, he didn’t like the way they made him feel and decided to battle through the issue on his own.
In 2020, he faced a number of events back to back. He was fired from a management job he had poured a lot of his time and energy into. He tore his left bicep. He was also in a catastrophic motorcycle accident, fracturing his pelvis and injuring ligaments in his wrist.
“I thought I had hit rock bottom after that, but my mental health was at an all time low,” Hall said. “I considered suicide a number of times.”
Hall pulled out of that spiral, however, and started doing more exercises, setting minor goals for himself. In October of 2021, he finished his first marathon.
“After that, I felt I still had something left in my tank,” Hall said. “Nine weeks later, I finished my first ultramarathon.”
It was sometime in that same time frame he watched Mike Posner’s music video about his walk across America.
“At that time, I was back working for the same company that had previously fired me, and I was still unsatisfied with the job,” Hall said.
He also had a friend, Sara, who had just lost her son, Jaxon, to suicide, and he wanted to help spread awareness of mental health issues.
The walk was started to help raise the money his friend’s family needed to honor Jaxon’s memory and help with mental health funding in his area.
The message Hall wants people to remember most, if they are dealing with mental health issues, is that they need to talk to other people about what they are going through and get the help they need.
Hall has been walking across the United States, and he says he averages usually 20 miles a day at a 3.5 mile per hour walking pace.
“I get started most mornings by 7 a.m., and with five to six hours of walking, that usually puts me in the town I’ll overnight in,” Hall said.
Because he hadn’t done a lot of pre-planning for his route, he tends to reach out to places in the communities. He usually contacts the fire stations or other first responders in communities to see if there is a place for him to set up a tent overnight.
His walk Thursday, July 28, took him from Mechanicsville to Mount Vernon.
“I was talking with a producer at KGAN about where we could meet for an interview, and he said he would be off for the day at noon,” Hall said. “I told him I could be in the town of Mount Vernon by 11 a.m.”
After finishing his interview, Hall decided to make Mount Vernon his overnight stop. He ate at Big’s Barbecue for lunch and had a long conversation with Jimmie Rambo.
As he was still looking to find a place to sleep for the evening, he was contacted by Paul Fugate, who helped him connect with a few options. He and Fugate also spoke about the rest of the planned route for his walk, with Fugate recommending he take the Lincoln Highway.
“For me, that’s been the most enjoyable part of this whole endeavor, is visiting with people and getting the words of encouragement from people who hear about what I’m doing,” Hall said. “I’ve encountered great people in every community I’ve been in, and people who share about their own mental health battles and that keeps me going to keep spreading the message about why mental health awareness is needed.”
For Hall, the challenges in the walk came very early. Crossing the Appalachian Mountain range is what he has been told was the hardest part of the trek for anyone walking across the United States.
He also said extremely hot days have been a challenge, sapping the distance he is able to cover.
And then, there’s things like not always having a shower for some stretches of the walk.
“As a former wrestler, that’s always a concern,” Hall said. “When I get to four or five days without a shower, I know I smell pretty ripe, and just feel dirty. That’s why when the First Street Community Center offered to let me camp here for the evening and use a shower in the facility, it’s where I wanted to set up camp.”
To learn more about his journey, visit his website Hall Across the Country or visit his Facebook page “Hall across the Country.”