'Thank you to America': One man's 50-state walk to celebrate America's 250th reaches Bozeman

Walk one mile with Noah Coughlan on his patriotic transcontinental foot journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and the vast scale of his 5,500-mile coast-to-coast journey comes alive.

It was 31 degrees when the Chronicle caught up with Coughlan inching up Bozeman Pass at 3 p.m. Thursday, walking westward from Maine to his Oregon terminus.

Coughlan, 42, has 80 days remaining and 44 states already walked off his list. The California native, most recently a Nashville bartender, aims to finish all 50 for America’s 250th anniversary.

“I couldn’t resist only having 14 states left,” Coughlan said. “I have enough time to do it by July 4, 2026. It’s an adventure, a tribute to the American people.”

Coughlan’s red, white and blue American flag and neon yellow bicycle carriage were technicolor against a blanket of freshly fallen snow, a gloomy and gray afternoon, and the dark asphalt under his feet.

“This is a chance for me to make history and honor America’s 250th anniversary,” Coughlan said between breaths, powering through the pass with a swollen ankle one day after enduring a blustery day battering his body between Big Timber to Livingston. “It’s just a strain. There’s nothing broken, but I am very uncomfortable right now, slowing to a walk.”

Coughlan still managed a brisk pace on Frontage Road parallel to Interstate 90. The flag he is walking with was flown by the Air Force. He never lets it touch the ground.

“It’s not the miles, it’s what happens on the miles,” Coughlan said of his Wednesday walk to Livingston.

“That wind made it my toughest day on this whole run.”

Coughlan ran the same route from Billings to Bozeman three years ago. He turned 40 after running through New York in January on this journey. The cold doesn’t bother him.

“I’m a lot warmer than people think I am,” Coughlan said. “I prefer it because it keeps the snakes and mosquitos away.”

After crossing the North Dakota border to Glendive, Coughlan went from Glendive to Forsyth, Forsyth to Custer, Custer to Lockwood, Lockwood to Billings, Billings to Columbus, Columbus to Big Timber, and Big Timber to Livingston. He reached Norris on Friday.

From Lubec, Maine, the northeastern-most point in the continental U.S., to Oregon, this is Caughlan’s final undertaking in ocean to ocean running series for different causes, dating to his 2011 first foot trip from Florida to California. He also walked from New York and Massachusetts to the Golden State in 2015 and 2023.

After reaching the West Coast this time, Coughlan is driving to Alaska to run 950 miles north to south from Prudhoe Bay to Anchorage. Coughlan could become the third person ever to cross all 50 states on foot if he crosses Hawaii off his list at Pearl Harbor as planned on Independence Day.

Coughlin burns 4,500 calories in each 25-mile leg. His 45-mile walks can amount to a 7,000 calorie burned.

Coughlin runs on beef jerky, donuts, protein bars, Gatorade and water.

He’s worn off the soles on nine pairs of New Balance running shoes on this journey. New Balance is Coughlan’s favorite footwear partially because it is made in the U.S. He usually receives new shoes for free from the stores he passes.

Coughlan has no high-profile sponsors. He made it clear corporate influence and politics has nothing to do with this journey.

“It’s an observation we’ve made it 250 years as a country,” Coughlan said. “I’m not a veteran or a police officer. This is just out of respect for the nation.”

Coughlan originally attached the “Stars and Stripes” to the stroller for safety reasons. He hasn’t had any close calls with vehicles on this trip, but a car did hit him on a prior cross-country journey.

Encouraging unity is part of his mission.

“I don’t know how to get there, but we are stronger together,” Coughlan said. “We have a lot more in common than we do apart. It’s a chance for people to talk about what America means to them.”

Freedom, family, and opportunity are the most common responses Coughlan receives.

Coughlan is also using his trip to meet and interview Word War II veterans along the way. He talked to 101-year-old Livingston veteran Ken Spalding before walking to Bozeman on Thursday.

“The WWII veterans are the most interesting people I’ve met,” he said. “Guys who fought in Iwo Jima, shot down flying in Germany, who survived. To actually see they are still alive after 100 years, sharp as a tack. That’s what sticks out for me.”

Coughlan is planning a documentary spotlighting the thousands of people he’s met along the way.

His journey is positively received for the most part, he said.

He stopped at Bozeman’s American Legion Post #14 at around 7:30 p.m. before bedding down at the Kimpton Armory Hotel for free. He is fundraising much of the journey himself on GoFundMe.

Coughlan had raised $18,135 of a $30,000 goal as of Friday.

“One last adventure,” he said. “I want this to end as a thank you to America.”