The Strength of a Team

Have you ever been apart of a team?  The comradery, the spirit, the enthusiasm, the strength, the support...all of those things are what someone should feel when apart of a team.  Over the past 4 1/2 months, my two oldest boys, have gotten to be apart of such a team.

Near the end of last year's school year, the head coach gave a little nudge to the seniors, one being my son, to get the team running at the beginning of summer.  It didn't take much to get them going.  There were 5-10 everyday, who showed up to run.  Some had never run before, some were veterans at the sport.

August came, when cross country officially starts, the boys were rearing to go.  They had "State Qualifying" in their eyes.  These kids worked so hard, and not just physically at practice, but also in creating the bond that teams should have.  As each meet passed, goals were met, the team flame grew larger, and the bond stronger.  Finally, it had come to the night before sectionals, where it is decided which teams go to state.  The team came to our home for a good old fashion spaghetti feed, and team building.  4 lbs of spaghetti, 1 very large bag of meatballs, 4 loaves of garlic bread, a large bag of salad and 2 pumpkin pies...these kids can eat!  It was not so much the amount of food that impressed me, but what happened afterward.  The seniors started, taking turns giving speeches.  Each congratulating the younger runners on a spectacular year and best wishes for the future.  Some tears were shed by the girls, who were not only team contributors by running, but also great cheerleaders and entertainers - they always had a way to liven things up with some silly rhyme or rap.  Then the juniors, sophomores and finally the freshmen spoke.  There was at least one in each group who gave appreciation to the rest of the team for making them feel important, and so much a part of the team.  These individuals admitted to being worried about not fitting in, and not being included.  With joy in their voices, they were so thankful for just the opposite to have happened.  I had never been more proud of a group of kids before.  The other coaches and I knew success had been achieved, no matter the results of the next day's race.

It was time to lay it all on the line for the big race the next day.  The captains took the reins and prepared their team with confidence and hope.  This was a fast course.  They all had a goal - to run under 18:30 for a cross country 5K (3.1mi) , hoping that would be good enough to earn their team a state-bound spot.

The runners took their place in the assigned lanes, the ref called out "set..." and BANG went the gun.  They were off!  This is a great spectator course as there are many places for them to see their favorite runners.  About 200 yards into the race, one of the lead guys from another school, got a bloody nose.  He didn't stop...he kept on truckin'.  Each time I saw him, he had more and more blood on his face and arms.  That's dedication.  Our boys had a strong start and were running well in a pack near the front, starting at about the 20th place or so.  That may sound far back, but other than one other school, most were individual runners.  To go to state, the team needs to pack together, near the front.  Each of our boys, looked stronger and stronger each time I saw them.  You could tell they were putting their heart and soul into every fiber of their body to keep pushing forward.  It came to about 100 yards before the finish - my favorite place to be.  This is where the beast comes out.  Each of our boys lit every ounce of booster they had.  They finished 23rd (18:03.9), 26th (18:04.2), 31st (18:16.5), 33rd (18:17.9), 39th (18:25.6)...they had achieved their goal of all five finishing under 18:30.  The wait for tallying up the team scores was killer.  Finally, they were posted.  Out of 14 teams, our team had placed 4th.  The boys were happy and sad at the same time.  They knew they hadn't made it to state, but they also knew they had achieved much more than that.  They had all run their butts off, PR'd (personal record), and they had created friendships that will last for a very long time. No one was to hang their heads that day.  These kids had done more than just turning in great times, they had included those that thought they might not ever be included, or feel like they mattered.  Every kid on that team knew, without a doubt, that they mattered, whether they came in first or last.  How can you ask for more than that?

In less than a week, I get the honor of being a part of a team whom I have never met.  I get to share my story with them in efforts to boost their excitement for the race and for our compassionate cause.  Our nation has a team that fights, and sacrifices daily just to keep us safe and free. The team I will run for, wants to make sure our nation's team does not get forgotten, nor unappreciated.  What an honor!  I am so thankful to our military for all they do, and I am so grateful to be a part of such an honorable team.

Are you ready?  New York - here we come!

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Meet Mike...

I received an email from my uncle who is an anchorman in the Duluth area.  He told me about a man their station had interviewed, who was running from the northern border of the US to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas.  His purpose:  to honor the lost soldiers of the Afghanistan war.  I never did see the story as our computer was not working properly, so I just kept about my day, thinking how cool it was at what this man was doing.

About a week later, I read an article in our local paper about the same man who would be running right through a town about 15 miles east of us.  In fact, there was to be a spaghetti dinner held in his honor, in which he would be the guest speaker.  Of course we were going!  I cancelled the kids activities for the night and off we went.

Mike is the one with the hat

Mike Ehredt is a proud veteran and a dedicated runner.  As we ate, he shared his story with us.  He was a postal worker, and woke up one morning, knowing he needed to do something more to honor our vets.  With many months of research and preparation, in 2007, he ran from the West coast to the East coast, over 4400 miles.  He placed a flag, in which he had prepared with a yellow tag, bearing the name of a lost soldier from the Iraqi war, their age, rank and hometown, every mile...EVERY MILE!  He ran 30 miles a day!  Most would think he had a van following behind with his gear and other necessities  Nope, not Mike.  He pushed a stroller, carrying only the things he needed for a few days.  He had mailed the other items to his hosts along the way, like new shoes, clean clothes, and more flags.  Several times he got stopped and questioned by the police about the stroller.  Imagine seeing a man, in the middle of summer, jogging across Nebraska, pushing a covered stroller...not a common sight.  He finally tried to have some fun with it and told the police that the baby got too heavy so he left it in a corn field.  Of course, he clarified his true purpose immediately following.

This year, Mike's goal is to run from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico, placing a flag for a lost soldier from the Afghanistan war every mile, running a marathon a day.  I had the great honor of running 1 1/2 miles with him the morning after the spaghetti feed. A group gathered on the south side of Baldwin, WI.  Someone asked me if I was going to carry the flag the whole time.  I said, "Sure am.  I'll be carrying it 26 miles in November."  Then Mike turned around and said, "You can carry it 26 today!"  I laughed and said, "If I didn't have to take my little girl to her 2nd day of kindergarten, I'd be so very tempted!"  With a firetruck escorting from behind, the other supporters and I ran beside Mike while we talked about what it was like to do this every day.  He and I agreed that when you do something big, for a good cause, you seem to get an extra source of motivation and strength.  His pace was not fast, but that was not his purpose.  He wanted to honor every lost hero.  The younger runners in the group had the honor of following through Mike's process of placing a flag. First, he would take the flag, in a specific order, read the name, rank, age, & hometown.  Then he would place it in the ground, using a GPS to know where every mile would be.  We saluted it, and kept going for another mile.  He had set up an app, so that every flag could be located.  For instance, if you know someone who was killed in either the Iraqi or Afghanistan war, you could go to his website and find where that particular soldier's flag is and see a picture of it.  Cool huh?  He also had a gadget on his stroller that would send a signal every 3 minutes to let his website know where he is.  So, if he is close to you, and you feel like running with an incredible man, you'll be able to find him. He plans on finishing November 11th, how appropriate, Veteran's Day.

This experience has truly shown me that there is so much hope in our country.  With people like Mike, who are ready to drop their everyday life to do something extraordinary to honor those who give everything and ask for nothing in return, our country will continue to become stronger.  I believe there is hope.  I believe there are many who love this country and love their freedoms.  I believe in America!

There are just 19 days until I have the honor of carrying the American flag through the streets of New York for an incredible organization who helps and honors those who have sacrificed:  our heroes, our soldiers.  I am just over 1/3 of the way of reaching my goal of raising $3000 for this group. If you would like to be apart of this achievement, please go to the website below and donate.  It will be ever so greatly appreciated!

To donate to Hope for the Warriors

To follow Mike on his quest