I decided to do a leg of the route after my sister Patty Thomas, called and told me she was doing a section in eastern Arizona. Her husband, Rich, is a pilot for America West Airlines and I believe she has been the only representative for that airline on this run. Instead of doing a piece close to my home in Albuquerque, I volunteered for a stretch around the Pie Town area in the western part of the state. After leaving work early, I drove the 160 miles to Pie Town arriving roughly fifteen minutes before my segment actually started and unfortunately missed the huge pot luck dinner provided by the townfolk of Pie Town for the runners.

The leg out of town was headed by Toots, a local waitress, and her 14 year old son, Dusty. Toots, who has a couple of marathons under her belt, ended up doing about 10 miles. I joined in for her last mile or two and ended up doing a little over seven miles. An earlier passing storm had left the road wet, the air was nice and cool and it was a great evening to run. The eastern part of the state is pretty remote and there wasn't a lot of vehicle traffic in either direction along US 60. The group of New Mexico organizers, many who had joined at the TX-NM border, shared both the driving and running duties for the final stretch to the Arizona boder which was scheduled for roughly 6 AM. As an added bonus, one of the drivers had rigged a pretty decent sound system in his vehicle with a speaker pointing to the rear and then positioned himself about 15 yards right in front of the runners to provide continuous tunes.

Both during and after my portion of the run, I did a great deal of reflection on being a part of something so large. Even now, sitting in front of my computer and looking at all the downloaded photos and all the many people who both touched the flag and who have been touched by the event, I know that I have been fortunate to have been a particpant. I have the utmost respect for all the organizers and what they've done to make this happen. Thanks for letting me be a part of it all.

Larry Newman

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