If there is one thing Mike Ehredt doesn’t take for granted, its the freedom he has and the country he lives in.
To honor those who have died to preserve what he is so grateful for, Ehredt is taking on quite the project. On Thursday, the 51-year-old Army veteran, retired postal clerk and experienced ultra-marathoner, dipped the wheel of his jogging stroller in the international waters of Rainy River at the Pat Roche Memorial Access to kick off a 2,100-mile run across the country to honor and remember service members who died in Afghanistan.
At each mile, Ehredt places a flag that holds a ribbon bearing the name, rank, age, hometown, and service affiliation of the fallen soldiers. After placing the flag, Ehredt salutes and continues his journey.
The first flag was placed Thursday morning at the Pat Roche landing and the final flag will be placed on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas.
"It is my objective to create an invisible holding of hands from one service member to the next, flag to flag, ocean to ocean," said Ehredt. "One Life. One Flag. One Mile."
Ehredt is no stranger to running across the country. In 2010, he ran more than 4,400 miles, from Oregon to Maine, in honor of service members who died in Iraq.
“When I would read an obituary (of a fallen soldier) in the paper, their personal story would resinate with me and I just wanted to say thank you for the gift that they have given me, which is to be in this wonderful country and to have the things I have,” he said of the motivation of his first run.
This time around, Ehredt will average a marathon of 26 miles each day, for a total of about 2,100 miles in 81 days.
“I won’t take a day off,” he said. “After I pass the first couple weeks, I’ll probably be pretty numb from the waist down.”
Ehredt’s journey will end Nov. 11 — Veterans Day.
“I’m taking it day by day,” the runner noted. “I know I can do this. I’m not looking at the big picture. I don’t look at the Gulf as being the end, I just know I’ll wake up and be there that day.”
A send off ceremony for Ehredt Thursday featured guest speakers offering their well wishes to Ehredt just minutes before his journey began.
“Mike must have a God-given gift — hard work, sacrifice, determination, and service,” Koochiching County Board Chairman Brian McBride said. “He does this to bring honor, not to himself, but to those who have fallen.”
In thanking Ehredt for choosing Borderland as his launch location, McBride offered the runner “a great Irish blessing.”
“May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back, may the sun shine the warmth on your face, and the rains fall softly upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand,” the commissioner said.
In addition, he added a twist of his own by saying, “May all your roads be paved and may your travels be downhill.”
Koochiching County Commissioner Wade Pavleck spoke as a veteran who served in the 1st Air Calvary Division in the Vietnam War.
“We sleep well at night because the armed service — men and women — of our country are out there protecting us,” he said. “They deserve our thanks.”
Pavleck said running 2,100 miles is unbelievable and commended Ehredt for giving credit to the service members who “keep our nation free.”
As the ceremony concluded, Ehredt made a humble exit before taking off along Fourth Street. Members of the Falls High School cross country team and other runners in the community quickly followed. The group traveled to the Pat Roche landing for the official start of Ehredt’s journey and he concluded with words of wisdom for the young runners.
He explained to the team that he was born with fused ankles, but despite the disability, he became a cross country runner and set his mind to achieve big goals.
“If you believe in yourself, you can do anything,” he said. “If you believe you can win state, you can do it, you just have to set your mind to it.”
As faces of the teens surrounding Ehredt appeared to be moved by his words, he grabbed his jogging stroller and enthusiastically said, “C’mon, let’s go get some miles.”
For more information on Ehredt and to see footage of Project Run America, visit http://projectamericarun.com.
