Pre-run Video – Project America Run: Afghanistan – Hope, ID
A message from Mike 1 week before Project America Run begins.
Author Archive: Mike Ehredt
A Champion………….
The sun sinks lower in the west over this lovely Idaho town. The coffee shop is quiet and yet my mind is full of chatter. I do not actively seek out family or friends of those we have lost in Afghanistan however I made an exception today. Maybe it was to remind me of why. Why do what I am doing? Maybe its to hear firsthand how someone touched the lives of those around them while they were here.
Jake Plummer took the time out of his day to sit with me and to write the name of his close friend Army Corporal Pat Tillman on a yellow ribbon that will go on Flag #126.. They were both teammates throughout college and the NFL and I asked Jake what it was he remembered most about his friend. “He was a champion” a term that Tillman himself used to describe those that he was thoroughly impressed by, was the one Plummer used to describe his friend. Pat Tillman had a way of showing his genuine concern,interest and care for his friends. As Jake talked about him I could see the light in his eyes as he talked about the gift of knowing someone like Tillman. People said Pat was to small, to slow to be an NFL player. He listened and it drove him to succeed. People discouraged me from running. “You will never win anything.” “Your wasting my time” a coach once said. “We don’t want you” said the Army. I listened also and it has driven me. The negative was our positive. He told me that Pat Tillman would have called me a champion. Not that I sought such approval but hearing it made me feel good. Made me feel like he was listening, watching somewhere over us…. I feel a lot closer now. Closer to the day I begin this last journey. Closer to the names I will remember. Closer to leaving more to this world than I have taken. The gift of generosity, from the heart, is a great gift to spread and maybe just maybe if we can be generous in this world, with our time and our actions then we too, can also be champions.
The Road is Calling….
As I sit here on the porch of our home in northern Idaho, I look at the gravel road that lies below us. In doing so I wonder how many people have traveled that road over the years. Families, children on bikes, farmers pulling hay wagons, horses and pickups. The roads across the country call us. They tell stories, they lead us. They are the connective tissue that joins our homes and towns. They are the lifeline to us all.
It is time to run the roads of America again. There is one job that is left to finish. One stretch of this country that is 2100 miles long, one stretch that will bear 2100 flags of 2100 of our heroes and 2100 salutes to those whose lives enriched so many around them. This run isn’t about sorrow or pain. It isn’t about right and wrong or political views. It is about giving back. It is about remembering.
I was given the gift of freedom. The gift to travel many roads. Ones that took me all over the country and allowed me to live in many beautiful places and share it with many wonderful friends. Roads that brought me here on a Sunday morning to absorb the beauty of blue skies and a still peace. So I choose to give a gift back to those 2100 from Afghanistan. A gift of thanks. When this wall of flags is done it will represent over 6500 lives who gave us all a gift of service. It will be a road that connects their memory to us and knowing that there is a place each mile that they stand over is a comforting thought..
Project America Run: Afghanistan
To honor those who have served and died in Afghanistan, Mike Ehredt will go on a 2,100 mile solo run. Flags bearing the Name, Rank, Age and Hometown of a fallen U.S. Military Member will be placed each mile, thus creating an invisible holding of hands from our northern border of Canada, just north of International Falls, MN
to the Gulf of Mexico outside Galveston, TX.
Traveling alone and pushing a stroller laden with flags, Ehredt’s route will take him through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
There is no statement to be made, no political message, just a personal tribute and a gift of thanks to those who have served our country.
In 2010 Ehredt completed his cross country run of over 4000 miles to honor those who died in Iraq and with the completion of this run, Project America Run II, his invisible wall of honor will grace over 6500 miles of our country in a serene and humble show of gratitude.
Not Another Fall Day
His name was Don Wood.
A kind man, a good man.
He lived in Lower Waterford, Vermont not far from the highway I ran down as I headed for Maine last fall.
His home sat tucked off the road amongst trees that are turning gold and crimson ever more each morning.
A short distance away you can see the Connecticut river flowing slowly…sparkling as it winds away.
It is a beautiful place to be.
We talked the other day on the phone and I knew his health was failing.
Our conversation was fairly brief but I wanted Don to know I wished him well in his last few days and my thoughts were with him.
The leaves are turning here in Idaho outside my window.
A sign of the seasons ending.
It is also ironically a sign of a life passing.
Sometimes we are given the opportunity to be touched by people and to touch them if only for the briefest amount of time in our life.
Don was one of those opportunities.
He was a great family man, a loving husband and I knew this because I could see it in his eyes and those around him during the short time I stayed with he and his family.
Don lost his grandson, Lt. Joseph Fortin, in Iraq.
Joseph lost his grandfather today.
William Wallace once said:
“Men will always die but not all men really live.”
Don Wood lived…..
A great, great life.
He was loved and loved those around him even greater.
There are many things we never learn about those we meet but I do not assume the goodness Don Wood brought to the world, I am quite certain he gave more goodness than I could ever imagine.
Thank You Don…………