Cassill completes his own Charlotte double

Who says racecar drivers aren't athletes?

Just shy of 11 p.m. Eastern on Sunday in Charlotte, as the rest of the participants in the Coca-Cola 600 were changing out of their firesuits to head home, Cedar Rapids native Landon Cassill was being stretched out by his personal trainer.

Having just completed NASCAR's longest race, Cassill was preparing to run 14 miles from the track in Concord, N.C. to downtown Charlotte and the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

With a police escort and a pair of lead and trail vehicles full of sponsor reps and social media coordinators from the Hall of Fame and his primary sponsor SnapFitness, Cassill made the run — technically 13.92 miles — in 1 hour, 41 minutes and 49 seconds.

'It was quite an experience, that's for sure,' Cassill said. 'I felt pretty good. I really felt fairly fresh and the first mile on the run I kind of started out a little faster than I planned on — which isn't a bad thing because it meant my legs were there — but I could tell there was a pretty good level of fatigue. It was just a different kind than I'm used to, in terms of running.'

After a few minutes into the run, word of it was spread across social media to those who hadn't yet heard about the event. A SnapFitness representative was broadcasting the run via Periscope, and others from the Hall of Fame and his Sprint Cup team Hillman Racing were live-tweeting.

He's still going strong! May 25, 2015

He's still going strong! #Landon614 pic.twitter.com/uMC0hXbmJ6

— Mike Hillman Racing (@Hillman_Racing)

Is that a downtown Charlotte skyline we see? May 25, 2015

Is that a downtown Charlotte skyline we see? @NASCARHall is so close, we can taste it! #Landon614 pic.twitter.com/Twe0ytsyrD

— Snap Fitness (@snapfitness)

Soon nearly 300 live viewers were on the Periscope broadcast, and hundreds more were tweeting words of encouragement.

In person, leftover race traffic and comers and goers in Charlotte at the late hour were honking and leaning out of windows to root him on.

As bizarre as the whole scene was, it was even more encouraging for the 25-year-old triathlete.

'There was a lot of people probably confused as to what was going on, but there were a lot of people that obviously knew what was going on and shouting words of encouragement. That was pretty neat and it felt like people were noticing,' Cassill said. 'I did have a few moments where I was thinking, 'Man I hope we're not backing up traffic here.

'People were just enjoying themselves (on Periscope) and chit-chatting. I can't even remember all the questions. It was really neat to know that many people were interested in it and staying up on it.'

Among the 250-300 viewers at any time on Periscope was Cassill's sister, Echo, and some of his friends from the Cedar Rapids area. They joined the broadcast and had a little fun, sending along comments Cassill would understand but maybe not anyone else.

'I talk to my sister almost every day and we were texting after the run (about it),' Cassill said. 'My sister sort of has my sense of humor, so I always enjoy seeing her chime in on stuff like that.'

The hashtag of the day was '#Landon614' combining the 600 miles on track and 14 of the run. However, a broken axle in the late stages of the race cost Cassill's race team 25 laps going behind the wall and relegated him to a 39th place finish — after having run on the lead lap or one lap down for much of the race.

In the end, Cassill completed 576.42 miles and finished his run just before 1 a.m. in downtown Charlotte. Waiting for him at the Hall of Fame were his wife Kaitlin, crew members, car-owner Mike Hillman Sr. and local media. His wide smile and desire for a cold beer made his satisfaction with the day evident.

There were many reasons behind the run, chief among them his desire to promote a healthier lifestyle and to encourage people to get fit. It was also to kick off and raise awareness for a summer service campaign by SnapFitness to pledge $1 to Folds of Honor for every 30-day trial sign-up the gym franchise gets between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Going forward, Cassill doesn't think this will be a one-time thing. He wants to continue it in the future, and hopefully get more people on board to run with him.

'It was fun to see people get interested in something that has to do with fitness and just overall health,' Cassill said. 'I don't really see it being a one-and-done thing. I think it'd be cool to get a lot of people to do it and really create some awareness and not so focused on just me, but on really pushing the cause.'

Here are all my mile splits from the run May 25, 2015

Here are all my mile splits from the run pic.twitter.com/IDDWyToAFO

— landon cassill (@landoncassill)

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com