'We all have our battles'

POST FALLS — Earlier this year, Ryan Worthen had a “crazy idea” to run across the state of Washington.

He did it.

And he even went some extra miles into Idaho, finishing in mid-October at the family home in Rathdrum.

“The toughest part was definitely the start,” he said.

While the steaks to celebrate afterward were great, this was about more than running and walking 459 miles over 25 days.

This was about more than traveling by foot on narrow highway shoulders, trails in the woods and long, dark tunnels.

This was about overcoming personal challenges.

This was about confidence.

This was about life.

Ryan Worthen has obsessive compulsive disorder. It is described as “a mental health disorder that affects people of all ages and walks of life, and occurs when a person gets caught in a cycle of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that trigger intensely distressing feelings.”

The 36-year-old said it has been a lifelong fight and he has won some rounds and lost some.

His cross-state run was like winning a championship.

“We all have our battles,” he said Thursday as he took a break from his journey some 15 miles from the finish line.

Trekking across the Evergreen State, he overcame rain, wind and hills. He outlasted fatigue, doubts and depression. He survived close calls with traffic and bouts of worries about bears in the wilderness

Worthen smiles as he stands next to his father, Mark Worthen, his one-man support crew, in Post Falls early Thursday afternoon.

“My dad’s been the real superstar,” he said.

For Ryan, this has been one helluva adventure.

“People do crazy things,” he said, smiling.

This crazy thing, Ryan Worthen said, gave him a new belief in himself. He had to be courageous at times to push ahead.

After those rough early miles, when he wavered ever so slightly, he grew stronger.

The 2002 Lakeland High School graduate calls this the biggest challenge of his life.

And he won.

“I was never amazing. Then I got into long distance running,” Ryan Worthen said. “You control it. You’re against yourself.”

He used it as a weapon against OCD.

“It definitely helps get it out of your head,” he said.

His father was proud.

“If he has a challenge now he can say, ‘I’ll go for it,’” Mark Worthen said. “He can look at a challenge and say, ‘I can do that. I ran across the state. I can do that.’”

Ryan was living in Auburn, Wash., and had lost his sales job due to the economy crashing due to the coronavirus. He wondered what was next.

He knew he didn’t want to sit home and wait for life to happen.

At 5-10 and 150 pounds, he is built to run. He usually logs a few miles a day, a few days a week. He decided he could do more. A lot more.

His preparation to run from Copalis Beach near Ocean Shores, Wash., to Rathdrum, he admits, wasn’t much. A half marathon, 13.1 miles was his longest training run.

Still, he started Sept. 21. He never looked back. His vision quest was about what was ahead.

His daily mileage ranged from 7 to 29, with a few rest days.

Towns like Montesano, Rochester and North Bend came and went. He climbed over Snoqualmie Pass. Easton, Thorp, Ritzville and Cheney were next. His father met him along the way, providing food and drink. At the end of each day they stayed at motels, with Ryan taking hot baths, icing sore spots and stretching to prepare for the next morning, always starting where they left off.

“This has taken him through tunnels, by ghost towns, passed farming lands, beautiful country sides, to the gorge at Vantage, through the windmills,” wrote his mom, Coy Worthen. “He has pushed through a 28 mile day with blisters on his feet to Moses Lake, and is still going strong.”

Ryan wasn’t in a hurry. This wasn’t a race. It was about endurance. Slow and steady describes it best. He refused to let the big, overwhelming picture deter him and focused on each single mile before him.

“It took a little longer than what I was thinking,” he said, laughing.

He wore a GoPro camera throughout and updated his daily travels on social media, with many followers keeping track of his progress.

That he finished was no surprise to his parents.

“Needless to say he is an inspiration to his mom, dad, and family,” Coy Worthen wrote.

Mark Worthen, a retired school teacher, said his son persevered and grew stronger with each mile.

He called Ryan’s achievement, “life-changing for him, and I think life-changing for the whole family.”

Ryan speaks openly of his OCD. He wants people to understand that it silently impacts the lives of those who have it, estimated at two to three million U.S. adults.

OCD creates anxiety. Stress. Uncertainty. Fear. Depression. It can be debilitating, he says.

“It’s something I’ve had to deal with my whole life,” he said. “I’ve always been a confident guy, but I lacked confidence, too.”

He insists, though, he is not unique.

“We all have our battles,” he says.

This one, he won at the starting line.