Glen Ellyn native attempting to run across U.S.

As she was running through Indiana's Amish countryside, Katie Visco counted the number of waves she received in just an hour.

At least 30 strangers took a moment to acknowledge the 23-year-old as she logged her 20 miles for the day in an attempt to run across the United States.

"This place felt like a whole new world," she said of LaGrange County. "I've never been in a place where things were so relaxed and calm and beautiful."

Every day, Visco takes in new landscapes and the different customs of people across America.

The Glen Ellyn native is running from Boston to San Diego, a 3,200-mile trip that will take nearly nine months.

She's jogging into Glen Ellyn today to spend time with her family and do more fundraising for Girls on the Run, a nonprofit organization that encourages girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. She hopes to raise $32,000 for the group.

Visco averages about 20 miles a day, getting up early to spend a few hours running and then starting again in the evening.

She doesn't overexert herself, traveling at a slow pace and enjoying the view as she goes.

"It's really a great pace to experience life," she said.

She'll be at her parents' home on Cranston Court this afternoon for an open house. She'll stay the week, celebrating the Fourth of July in Glen Ellyn.

She'll also run in the park district's Freedom Four Four-Mile Run. The district has its own Girls on the Run program each fall.

Visco's passion for running dates back to her early school days; she ran while at Glenbard West High School after falling in love with the sport in middle school.

"I loved the way it made me feel," she said. "It was just such a way to grow into somebody that I was proud to be."

Visco was working with high school students in Boston last year through City Year, an AmeriCorps program, when she decided she wanted to do something big with her passion.

"It's something I've always wanted to do, but I was searching for a cause that's strong enough that would take me from coast to coast," she said. "It hit me: to inspire people to really find their passion."

She said she wants to motivate high schoolers to search for what they really want to do.

"It's about the message," she said.

Visco took off from Boston on March 29 and is expected to reach San Diego by December.

She's stopping at locations along that way that have offered her a place to sleep. She's also inviting running clubs to meet up with her wherever she goes.

"People come out and run and we'll see the landscape together," she said.

Visco said people she's met have been amazingly generous, opening their homes to her and the friend she's traveling with, offering food and home-cooked meals.

"Most people in this country, they want to help," she said.

Visco's most looking forward to reaching Arizona and New Mexico, which will offer a challenge because of the mountains, but also the chance to take in some beautiful scenery.

Visco periodically updates her Web site, paveyourlane.com, with her route and photographs. Its also includes information on donating to Girls on the Run.