Can this man walk across America? Watch GPS track him

Matt Livermanne is a regular kind of guy. He's soft spoken and he's -- well -- a little bit pudgy. You wouldn't expect to see him at the start line of a marathon, but a "marathon" is exactly what he is doing. He's walking -- WALKING -- across the country and hopes to complete the trek in 35 days to break the only known record set more than four decades ago by an Englishman.

His trek starts April 9 at the Los Angles City Hall with a send off from the mayor, who will start the official timing, and a fanfare from a race track bugler. His trek will end 2,800 miles later at the New York City Hall. He’ll be wearing a GPS all the way so you can follow his every step on his site: www.transwalk.com.  

Livermanne, 34, began walking several years ago out of necessity. He was laid off and began walking to job interviews. He discovered he liked walking, so he made it his career.

Well known Sandy chiropractor Matthew Roller gave him a physical checkup to assure he was fit to walk long distances. Livermanne got to the appointment by walking from his home in downtown Salt Lake City to Sandy. Roller then began to sponsor Livermanne because he exemplifies good health and physical fitness.

Livermanne soon increased his daily treks until he was walking from Salt Lake City to Saint George and further. He wears out sneakers every 250 miles. When the sole tore off his shoe and was flapping, a shoe company heard of his plight and rushed shoes to him along the way. Recently, he's been walking 50 mile every day to prepare for his cross-country walk.

He has some pet peeves. “Schools don’t need $1 million to fund physical education programs. Kids can walk for physical fitness, he said.” And he adds: “People criticize me for not having a real job, but some people criticize everything.”

Several independent film companies are documenting his walk across America, and you might see them in next year’s Sundance Film Festival.

I hope you'll enjoy following Matt and his GPS. Good luck big guy! You've worked hard for this.