Edmond North cross country coach James Strahorn completes his border-to-border Oklahoma run

Edmond North cross country coach James Strahorn finished his border-to-border run across Oklahoma late Thursday.

Strahorn, an ultrarunner, ran 75 miles Thursday from Pauls Valley to the Texas border on SH-77 to complete his four-day run. He began his road journey at 6 a.m. Monday at the Kansas border north of Blackwell on SH-177.

Over the next four days, he logged 265 miles and lived primarily on high-carb snacks such as honey buns and nuts from gas stations. He is the first person to run across Oklahoma from Kansas to Texas and his time will be established as a record by Fastest Known Times, a website which keeps running records for routes across the world.

Strahorn said his run will be considered as a second "Trans Oklahoma" record, joining Tulsa ultrarunner Justin Walker who ran across Oklahoma two years ago but from west to east. Walker ran 511 miles in eight days from the New Mexico border in the Oklahoma Panhandle to the Arkansas border at West Siloam Springs.

Strahorn, 27, said he reached the Texas border at 9:47 p.m. on Thursday, completing the longest leg of his four-day run.

"I had almost a 17-hour day," Strahorn said.

Strahorn said he received a lot of encouragement on the road Thursday after The Oklahoman published an article on his endeavor.

"That gave me a boost," he said. "I was getting a lot of texts. I hit Davis at 9 a.m. From Davis on, I had someone in every town I went through who spotted me that either had a poster that said 'Go James' or they just kind of rolled down the window and honked or just clapped their hands for me."

A former Falls Creek Youth Camp colleague even met him on the road in Ardmore with a Dr. Pepper and snacks after reading the story.

"Man, it was awesome," Strahorn said of the public support. "It helped me power through it."