Hi, This is Patty Thomas.I am a woman of few words, so I'll make this short. I ran in eastern and western AZ.

I read Ken White's diary (an AZ coordinator), and for the record.......about the "nasty spill" I took going out of the RV, he forgot to add that it was HE driving the RV. If that means anything. And not long prior to me taking a "nasty spill" out of the RV, some fruit, ice, water, paper towels, etc., ALSO took a "nasty spill". Oh yeah, and Ken was driving then too.

Anyway, just wanted to clear that up. You understand, I can't take the blame for being a klutz, so that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Being a part of this Flag Run, this monumental undertaking, was the biggest thrill of my life. I've run marathons, but nothing could ever compare to this emotional, and meaningful event. To think of the thousands who participated, and the coordinators who pulled it off. And what it stood for.....I get weepy every time I talk about it. It also meant a lot to me that my brother, Larry Newman, ran with the flag in New Mexico. My brother STEVE NEWMAN, in ATLANTA.....well, let's just say...he "couldn't make it". Whatever. :-)

Eastern AZ was fairly easy to travel to. My husband and son came with me for support. But when I got a call from Steve Case to hook up in Vicksburg, at 4:30 a.m,...I said "absolutely", but I was on my own this time. I did have some help from MapQuest. I had about 5 hours to find someone to farm my kid out to, take the dog to the kennel and wash my clothes that were still in the car from the first run. Plus try to grab a couple of hours to sleep, as I had to leave Tucson at about 1:00 in the a.m. My alarm doesn't go off...no prob, still plenty of time. Actually, it did go off, just at 12pm instead of 12am. So, I set off in the dark....sort of clear on where to go...and I miss the Vicksburg hook up by an hour or so.

I finally see the runners. It's about 5am or so, smack in the middle of nowhere. I pull up along side the RV, and ask where to park. There were no shoulders or anything to pull off on. So Mike....you know, tall Mike from United, told me to drive 15 miles up to Bouse and park. So I did. I get there, and realize that it will take about 2 hours for the runners to get to where I was. I absolutely did not know what to do. Hitchhiking crossed my mind, but no, that's not safe, and it was still pitch black outside. So I did the next best thing.........I turned on my headlights, stood in front of them, and started waving down truckers. Of course, I'm no dummy, I ONLY flagged down the ones who had already passed the runners. Figured they would tend to be more sympathetic. One finally stopped, and it took him 20 minutes to make a U-turn on that narrow highway. I offered him $20 to take me back to the runners. At that moment, a sheriff pulled up and said that some trucker radioed him to tell him that some girl was standing in the middle of nowhere with her headlights on, waving traffic down. So I ended up getting a ride with the sheriff. Who, incidentally, came all the way from Parker. I got scolded when I got home, but....I couldn't think of what else to do! Anyway, I'll cut this short.............

I had a blast! We were in stiches the whole way to Parker. What a great sense of humor everyone had.

Many, many heartfelt thanks to everyone who pulled this off. Ken, you did an awsome job. Best of luck with your new baby girl. And Anne and Lynn, thanks for the painkillers! You guys were the greatest! Can you imagine driving 8mph for 2 days? And the guys I ran with, did you have to run so fast?!

Thanks again for the most memorable time of my life. I'm especially glad that it served such a great purpose.

Patty Thomas

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