President and Founder of nonprofit Metrotrails, Mike Helbing became the first person to hike the perimeter of N.J. on Sunday.
TRENTON - "Who walks fifteen-plus miles in a suit and tie?" Mike Helbing asked as he addressed over 80 people on the steps of the State House in Trenton Sunday night.
Dressed like a member of the state legislature - and only slightly sweaty - no one would have believed Helbing had just become the first person to complete the last leg of a 1,400-mile trek around the perimeters of N.J.
On Sunday, the president and founder of Metrotrails - a nonprofit that leads
Mike Helbing (right) on the steps of the State House Sunday with grandfather Eldon Allen (left) who walked his last leg of his 1,400-mile hike around the perimeter of N.J. weekly hikes around New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania - and lifetime resident of Washington Township in Warren County, Helbing tearfully thanked the people who walked with him, either fully or partially, the last 15-mile stretch of his state-perimeter hike.
"This is only a little piece of something bigger," he said.
Helbing organized the hike - beginning Sunday morning in Roebling and stretching through Fieldsboro and Bordentown all the way to Trenton - and invited friends to walk with him as this hike would complete his nearly 19 years of trekking the state.
"I've walked 15,000 continuous miles from where I lived when I was 17," said Helbing, who was born and still lives in Washington.
Helbing said he first started organizing hikes in 1997, on his seventeenth birthday, with just seven of his friends, growing it to be a nonprofit and annual tradition from there. Sunday's hike marked Helbing's completion of a first-ever journey around the perimeter of the state, beginning with that first trail on March 23, 1997.
Helbing said the main objective for his hikes and nonprofit is to show people who may not otherwise have noticed, the tri-state area's rich history, ecology and "vast network" of "off-the-beaten-path" trails.
RELATED: Meet the man who's about to walk the perimeter of N.J.
"It's about all that and experiencing it with other people," Helbing said. "Bringing the people together."
Sunday's trek brought Helbing's grandfather Eldon Allen together with him as well. Having been the person who taught Helbing the love of hiking at a very young age, the 81-year-old man naturally walked the last leg of his grandson's 1,400-mile hike with him.
"I just want to say we did it," Allen said. "And I couldn't go another 100 ft."
Allen said when Helbing was growing up, they would hike in the northwestern region of New Jersey and in parts of Pennsylvania together.
"I'm proud to call him my grandson," Allen said. "He was a good boy and he's an even better man."
Pennsylvania resident and longtime hiking mate of Helbing's, James Delotto also commended Helbing's feat.
"He's awesome," Delotto said.
Clad in his suit and tie, Helbing either shook hands, high-fived or hugged every person who walked with him on Sunday before heading home.
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.