Mystery Man On Route 66: Lazarus Lake’s Transcontinental Journey Crosses Sullivan

Some Sullivan residents may have seen an older man strolling along Route 66 this past weekend. He was wearing a bright yellow vest and a tan beach hat and puffing smoke from his cigarette. This mysterious man goes by the pseudonym Lazarus Lake; most call him ‘Laz.’

The seventy-year-old, whose real name is Gary Cantrell, is taking a transcontinental hike through the United States. Laz started in Delaware on Mar. 31 and will finish the first half of his voyage in Oklahoma in a couple of weeks. He will resume his journey next year with a destination of San Francisco.  

Laz crossed Sullivan this past weekend and was taken aback by some of the remaining historical artifacts of Route 66, such as the Shamrock Court Motel and the Clark Family Cemetery.

It is not the first time Laz has trekked across America. He walked his first transcontinental hike in 2018, then traveled from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico three years later. 

In the running world, Laz is known as the mastermind behind some of the world’s toughest ultramarathons, which are races longer than 26.2 miles. His courses are known to test the utmost will of each contestant, such as the Strolling Jim 40, Big’s Backyard Ultra, the Vol State 500K and the Third Circle of Hell. His most famous is the Barkley Marathons, which earned the title “The Race That Eats Its Young” in a 2014 award-winning documentary.  

In 2023, Laz was inducted into the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport. He has helped racers worldwide realize how much they can achieve if they put their minds to the task. At seventy, Laz continues to prove this, never giving up on his passion and walking over 20 miles a day. 

While Laz was on a smoke break, I asked him what started his ambition of being out on the road. He said his biggest inspiration was his father’s next-door neighbor, Andy Payne, an early ultra-running legend who won the Trans-Continental Footrace in 1928.

After hearing from Payne about all he had accomplished, Laz believed he could do the same. “I started running from one city to another and then running to a further city and a further city—and then running for multiple days,” he explained. “Then I got old, and I couldn’t run anymore. But I didn’t want to quit, so I’ve been walking for some years now. I run if I have to keep from getting hit by a car. But other than that, I just walk.”

Laz mentioned that he was tired at the moment but was still excited to see more sights on Route 66, such as Sullivan. “Each place is unique. It has people you meet, people you see, and things that are there . . . You see the whole country differently,” he stated.

Laz was also looking forward to reaching Oklahoma, where he plans to see a statue dedicated to his idol, Payne, the man who ignited his passion. Laz has now passed the torch on to future generations of ultrarunners, and the smoke he lit for the sport will continue to burn.