115 People Show Up To Run For The Fallen
More than a hundred people showed up to Century High Saturday morning only to be greeted by weather that was cold, wet and by all accounts horrible. However, there was nothing mother nature could have done that would have stopped the group from making a few trips around Century’s track.
“For me this is very personal,” said Run for the Fallen Organizer Brenda Thibeault. “Running for him and remembering him and what he did.”
What Brenda Thibeault’s brother Curtis Hall did on April 6, 2007 was die defending his country in Iraq. Curtis is just one of 6,442 Americans who’ve lost their life in the Middle East since 2001.
On Saturday, Century High School was the site for the Run For The Fallen. Run for the Fallen is a national movement to honor those lost during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, one mile at a time.
“We want to make sure that we never forget their sacrifice and what they’ve done for all of us,” said Army Reserve Officer Doug Varie.
So 115 eastern Idahoans walked or ran as long as possible on Saturday, all in the name of a fallen soldiers.
“I was thinking out here as i was running ‘I’m uncomfortable and I’ll probably be feeling this tomorrow’ but there’s guys that are coming back with injuries that they’ll feel forever,” said former Marine Jordan Johnson.
Lining the track were individual posters of all 80 Idahoans that have been lost in the last 11 years. Runners said when the rain and fatigue was setting in, all they need to do was look down at the posters for extra motivation.
“I think it’s very important that they aren’t just 1 of 6,000 people,” said Run for the Fallen organizer Jessica Tingley. “This is someone’s brother, someone’s son, this is someone’s daughter.”
Regardless if the sun is shining or not.
“If I can stand a little rain and pay back a debt, which no matter how many miles I run I will never pay it back, it’s worth it,” said Thibeault. “It’s all worth it.”
Before Saturday’s race 7,600 people nation wide had accumulated over 44,000 total miles. Saturday’s racers accounted for an additional 415 miles.
