I’m really glad my neighbor, John Kohler, asked me to come down and run a leg of this cross-country relay with him. Check out the website and consider donating to the One Fund. You’ll have to drive farther than I did to catch it now though – they are east of St. Louis by now.
We began the morning in Newburg, a small community southwest of Rolla. This is one of those towns that used to be bigger than it is now, but my initial impression of a ghost town was later turned around by the appearance of a huge group of kids that came out to cheer us as the baton was passed from the previous stage to ours.
John and I were joined by Amanda, from Rolla, and Tony, from St. Clair. A pair of local runners from another stage also joined us through the streets of downtown Rolla. Nice folks, all. Committed runners, all. The four of us all found that we had shed significant weight through running in the last decade.
We had great support from local law enforcement. A Phelps Co. Sheriff’s deputy followed us the whole way, and various municipalities – Doolittle and Rolla, at least, were on the point through intersections. An over-used term – it was rock star/parade type treatment. The added safety and visibility was much appreciated. Thank you!
It was a hot day! The baton was about an hour behind, so it was every bit of 10am when we started our 11 miles. Some new blacktop in places pumped up the temp. I needed more water than I could carry – so it was great to have a support crew in John’s in-laws. The enthusiasm and support of his family was fantastic.
It was a great day for a great cause!
There was a nice article about John and the run in the KC Star sports section on Thursday. We also got some coverage in the local Rolla paper:
cretanrunning 
That is a great picture of you! You look like a rock star! Or… you look like you’re being chased by a police car!