One year ago, Jim McCord could barely run 2 miles. He huffed, puffed and got an idea: Why not do this across the entire United States, to help Maggie?

        So begins a very American story, full of optimism and determination and nutty twists, such as the unexpected phone call from that guy who played Cliffie on Cheers. More about him later.

        For now, know this: To tell the country about a medical injustice involving his daughter, Maggie, Mr. McCord has sold his house in Fort Thomas, put his real-estate career on hold, bought a used camper and recruited friends to literally watch his back for 3,000 miles.

        His run starts in San Diego today, which is Maggie's 20th birthday. She'll be there to see him off.

Jim McCord is trying to raise awareness of diabetes, the disease his daughter Maggie has had since she was 9 years old. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        “Once he gets in his mind to do something, there's no stopping him,” says Ms. McCord, a sophomore at Northern Kentucky University.

        She's had Type I diabetes since she was 9 and must give herself three to five shots of insulin a day. She's at increased risk for heart attacks, strokes, vision loss and limb amputation. She has a 67 percent chance of dying before the age of 55, Mr. McCord says.

        Those are the injustices of fate. The man-made injustice is this: Every year, the federal government spends less on diabetes research in proportion to the patient population than on diseases such as AIDS or breast cancer.

        Mr. McCord, 44, would take nothing from people with those diseases. His mother died of breast cancer, he says. It's horrible. He only wishes diabetics were as effective in making their case for research money.

        The National Institutes for Health gets about $2.5 billion to work on AIDS, which amounts to $2,700 per patient, Mr. McCord has calculated. Breast cancer gets $630 million, or $267 per patient. And diabetes receives about $768 million per year, or $48 per patient.

        Sixteen million Americans have diabetes, and it kills about 68,400 people a year. That's slightly more than the victims of breast cancer and AIDs combined, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

        Running across America is Mr. McCord's contribution to the cause. He's not raising money, just awareness. Along the way, he'll ask folks to visit his Web site, www.diabetesinfo.cc, where they can sign a petition to request help from Congress.

        The road to San Diego has been paved with kismet. For instance, during an impromptu journey to Ground Zero in November, he and his four children decided to stand in the audience outside the Today Show. Just before, Mr. McCord ran to Kinko's to print his Web address on a sign. That morning, not only the address but also a brief interview with him appeared on Today, which led to a bit on WLW, which led to 3,300 hits on www.diabetesinfo.cc.

        Another time, Mr. McCord was jogging down Fort Thomas Avenue when his cell phone rang. It was John Ratzenberger, the actor who played mailman Cliff Clavin on Cheers. He had seen Mr. McCord's number on the Web site and wanted to help, because his child has diabetes, too. Now Mr. Ratzenberger's publicist is helping arrange media in San Diego.

        “It was just really wild that out of nowhere, Cliff the Mailman would call,” Mr. McCord says.

        Even wilder, though, was his search for a personal trainer. To find the country's best, he flew to California to hang out at the Badwater 135, in which some 70 people run 135 miles through the desert in July. That's how he connected with trainer Lisa Smith of Idaho, who designed his workout regimen.

        For the last three months, he has been running 100 miles a week. On the cross-country jog, he'll do 20 miles a day for the first two months, then 25 miles, then 30, resting every third day.

        The first month will be tough: 350 miles through the desert at temperatures reaching 100 degrees. But Mr. McCord is ready. He'll do anything to help Maggie's chances.

        Karen Samples is the Enquirer's Kentucky columnist. She can be reached at (859) 578-5584 or at ksamples@enquirer.com.
       

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