The Tennessean’s Ms. Beep just passed along some good news, perhaps the only item from last night’s Metro Council meeting that blogger extraordinaire S-Town Mike did not post about last night or today. (Aside: That man is a blogging force.)

The Metro Council indefinitely put off a resolution last night to re-name Dickerson Pike. Business owners and residents who’ve been working hard to clean up the notorious street have been arguing that a name change would help the road’s rep. But the discussion is tabled now until the council decides to pick it back up.

I’m all for renaming Dickerson Road, as soon as the new moniker isn’t a euphemism for “notorious.” Let’s take care of that part first.

Actually, Paul already did. I spotted this story on active.com yesterday, and it is well worth the read. Inspired by school kids rather than Forrest Gump, Paul Staso (don’t miss his photo gallery either) ran across the United States unassisted over four months last year:

Paul Staso completed a 3,260-mile run across the country. He began his trek at Cannon Beach, Oregon and ended 108 running days later at Cape Henlopen State Park on the Deleware coast on October 20, 2006. Staso, of Missoula, MT, became the seventh person to successfully run across the continent without any type of support crew.

Averaging 30 miles a day, Staso trekked along, pushing all of his gear, water and food in an Ironman jogging stroller. His route took him through 15 states, including Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland (and Washington D.C.) and Delaware.

Staso began running to honor his pledge to students in his hometown. He challenged them to maintain a walking/running exercise routine and track the distances their classes covered as a virtual trek across the country. If they succeeded, Staso said, he’d answer their activity by running from sea to sea for real. (By the way, that stroller he’s carrying included all of his supplies and weighed 65 pounds.)

Wow. This is definitely putting your money where your mouth is, and it is an amazing testament to physical and mental endurance. Way to go, Paul!