In 2026, a skateboarder left Venice Beach with a damaged knee; 39 days and more than 3,000 miles later, he rolled into Florida with a new U.S. record

Chad Caruso started his 2026 cross-country skateboard journey from Venice Beach, California, on May 1 after recovering from a re-injured knee, and thirty-nine days later, on June 8, he arrived in Jacksonville after covering more than 3,000 miles. The journey was an attempt to improve on the Guinness World Records mark he had set in 2023, when he took 57 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes to travel from Venice Beach to Virginia Beach, Virginia. People reported that Caruso said he had re-torn his meniscus two months before the 2026 trip after previously undergoing surgery and rehabilitation.The knee injury came before the journeyCaruso had already completed one coast-to-coast skateboard trip before attempting the longer California-to-Florida route, when he travelled from Venice Beach to Virginia Beach in 2023, and covered 3,162 miles in 57 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes. Guinness World Records lists that journey as the fastest crossing of the United States on a skateboard by a male competitor. He completed it between March 24 and May 19, 2023.In 2026, Caruso planned to reach Jacksonville, Florida, on the Atlantic coast, but his preparation was interrupted by a knee problem. According to his account to WPTV, he had torn his meniscus and developed a cyst before undergoing surgery and rehabilitation, and two months before the 2026 trip, he said he re-tore the meniscus. He still started the journey from Venice Beach on May 1. People reported that the trip was funded on his credit card and that strangers along the route sometimes gave him food, water and money.He averaged about 72 miles a dayUPI reported that he travelled more than 3,000 miles between May 1 and June 8, and averaged about 72 miles a day. The route took him from Southern California across the country and into Florida, and he documented the journey online as he travelled through the different states and road conditions. Caruso was marking 10 years of sobriety and used the journey to raise money for Natural High, an organization that encourages young people to find healthy activities and avoid drugs and alcohol.Caruso has previously said that skateboarding played a role in his own recovery, and Guinness reported after his 2023 crossing that he had used long-distance skating to build his stamina during the six months before that record attempt. The 2026 journey also shortened his previous coast-to-coast time by more than 18 days, as his 2023 crossing had taken 57 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes, while the new California-to-Florida journey took 39 days.The 2026 record is still being updatedPeople and UPI reported that Caruso completed the 2026 journey in 39 days and that he had set out to break his own Guinness record. UPI described the trip as an attempt to break the record, while People reported that Caruso said he had broken it.Guinness's currently accessible record page still lists Caruso's 2023 time of 57 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes as the published record for the fastest crossing of America on a skateboard by a male competitor. Guinness also notes that records can change and are not immediately published online. That means the 39-day journey can accurately be reported as Caruso's claimed new record and a faster coast-to-coast time, while the publicly accessible Guinness listing has not yet been updated to replace the 2023 mark.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.