This was a great run for a great cause. We had Federal, State, County and City police working together to complete this run. We all set out from the State Trooper station in Forrest City, and headed towards Wynne. We were concerned about the potential for rain today, as the storm fron that hit Oklahoma was making its way towards us. We had just over 20 runners, three squad cars, one 15-passenger van and two pickup trucks to help carry out this mission. Everyone hung tough for the first couple miles. Some hung on longer than we all thought they would. Not sure if it was pride, stubborness, or just plain determination that got them through it but, these guys really pushed their limits today. There were many familiar faces running with us again this year. There were also some new faces out there. This is awesome. These guys are really grasping the wholel idea of fitness and its benefits in our line of work. Not to mention they were there to help the cause.
Normally my running partner for this event is Barrett Burns. However, Barrett was in training today and could not attend. He did come wish us well before we left the institution. Last year, three of us ran the entire way from Forrest City to Wynne. Barrett, Holly Cook and myself. I wasn't planning on running the entire way since I have the Jonesboro Marathon in three days. But, I was convinced to go ahead and do it. We were running a very easy pace. Three of us made it the whole way again. This time, it was Holly, myself and Kevin Baxter. Kevin has come so far in the last year. This guy has shed over 50 pounds and is running half marathons like they are nothing now. Overall, we had many of our runners in double digit mileage for the day. A lot of pride and accomplishment was felt today.
Well, we dodged the storms for the most part. However, the little dustin gof rain we did get, only increased the already high humidity out there. Luckily, the high winds that were pounding us, were doing so at our backs. That was a great feeling. Once we hit Wynne, all runners were in formation, singing cadences, and taking in all the cheers and honking horns as we came into town. Then we turned the corner and the Special Olympians were cheering and clapping for us as we came in. Always a great feeling. WE posed for a few pictures with them and had to load up and meet the runners coming in from Marion, AR. Drove out to Earle, AR and joined them. From that point we still had roughly 20-miles to cover to finish the run. WE decided to break it down in to 1-mile increments for each runner. This worked well except for when it came my turn to get my mile in. Just happened to fall on the largest hill of the run. Powered through it, jumped in the back of the truck, went another mile and then joined everyone in the file run into Mazzios for our lunch. 16.02 miles overall. Even with that, I wasn't the most mileage this year. Usually Barrett and I share that. Holly took the crown this year. 18.5 miles. Great job to everyone. Can't wait to do it again next year.
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