Redondo Beach veteran will skate 100 miles in 1 day to help Ukrainians
Andrew Goldsmith knows what it means to push your body beyond its limits.
The Redondo Beach native did it for years as a soldier during the Iraq War, walking, sometimes even running, for miles under a heavy pack.
Goldsmith also knows too well the monotony of fighting in a long, drawnout conflict and how — sometimes — people back home lose sight of the war’s purpose.
The father of two wants to change that.
So he’s trading in his heavy pack for two sets of wheels next week when he takes a 101-mile journey on his skateboard to raise money and awareness of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Goldsmith will rise early on Sunday and start skating the Esplanade in Torrance and South Redondo Beach. He’ll travel north along the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, which runs 22 miles up to Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades. When he gets there, he’ll turn around and head south again, completing roughly 2.5 round trip loops.
And he’ll do so while carrying Ukrainian and U.S. flags to symbolize America’s solidarity with the wartorn county. Goldsmith said he expects to cramp up, but he’s certain the journey will also help him heal a bit.
“The military showed me that human beings are capable of traveling great distances on our own power when we need to and it can be fun sometimes,” Goldsmith said. “It allows me to clear my head, allows me to think about things, kind of be free.”
All proceeds raised through his GoFundMe page, “Skateboarding 101 Miles for Ukraine,” will be donated to the International Medical Corp.
The International Medical Corp. provides emergency health services and other aid for those in conflict areas around the world.
“They provide medical services to people affected by the war in Ukraine,” Goldsmith said. “They have offices all over Europe, and they’ve been in Ukraine for a long time.”
In mid-February, Russian forces invaded Ukraine, and the two countries have waged a fierce campaign against each other since then.
Most recently, Russia has pressed its offensive in the east while Ukraine tries to retake territory in the Russian-occupied south. At least three civilians were killed and 16 wounded by Russian shelling in the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours, according to Ukraine’s presidential office.
Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko repeated a call for all residents to evacuate, emphasizing the need to remove about 52,000 children still there.
In Washington, D.C., meanwhile, President Joe Biden approved an additional $550 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more ammunition for howitzers and for the new American-supplied rocket launchers that are making a difference on the battlefield. The package brought total U.S. military assistance to Ukraine to about $8.7 billion since the start of the Biden administration.
Goldsmith said Ukrainians need medicine, money and arms, but “mostly they need our continued support and awareness of what they’re going through.”
“We can’t just become jaded and cynical to what’s happening over there,” Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith, who is also a lawyer, estimates the journey, which he will begin around 5 a.m., will take 14 to 18 hours. Though he plans to do most of the trip solo, friends and supporters might join him for some of it, Goldsmith said. And he’s encouraging anyone to hop on a skateboard or bicycle that day if they see him out there.
Goldsmith grew up in Redondo Beach and graduated from Redondo Union High School in 2003. He spent a few unexciting years, he said, going to community college. But then, he started feeling lost.
So at 19 years old, Goldsmith said, he joined the U.S. Army “for some adventure.”
Goldsmith served as an infantryman from 2004 to 2009, and was deployed to Iraq in December 2005. When he left the Army as a sergeant, Goldsmith said, he wanted to tell his story and give an unflinching look at military life, including his near death experiences.
In 2011, he published his memoir, “Zarqawi’s Ice Cream: Tales of Mediocre Infantrymen.”
The book, he said, helped him capture memories and served as a cathartic experience.
It helped, Goldsmith said, “to get these things on paper, get them out of me, retelling them in my head, and kind of sharing my story with my family and friends and everyone else.”
The Sunday event, meanwhile, won’t be his first lengthy journey on a skateboard.
In 2013, Goldsmith began a trip in Brookings, Oregon, and headed south along the coastline until he reached the Mexican border. He was about to enter law school so he wanted a “grand adventure,” Goldsmith said, but it was mainly to raise money for the nonprofit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
That was an approximately 1,000-mile trek, during which he averaged around 40 to 50 miles a day. Skateboarding 60 miles in one day is probably his record, Goldsmith said, but he has been nowhere near 100 miles.
Goldsmith said he has been training leading up
Army veteran Andrew Goldsmith, shown here in Redondo Beach on Saturday, is training for his upcoming 101-mile skateboard ride along the coast to raise awareness and money for Ukraine. to his ride for Ukraine, but cramps remain one of his biggest concerns.
“When you are skateboarding for hours on end, your mind becomes your biggest enemy. That’s like with any endurance sport,” Goldsmith said. “But as long as you fuel your body properly, so if I’m drinking water, getting properly hydrated, I think my body can hold up.”
Those interested in donating can visit gofund .me/fb327759. Goldsmith had raised $1,057 as of Monday evening. His goal is $5,000.
Goldsmith’s status during his Sunday trek will be published throughout the day on his Veteran Skate Trek Facebook page.