Laura Young
editor@riverbendnews.org
On Friday, Feb. 6, a team of more than 20 marathon-trained athletes will embark on a 176-mile, three-day journey from Tallahassee to Jacksonville to honor every service member with ties to Florida who lost their lives since the bombing of the U.S.S. COLE in 2000, which marks the beginning of the War on Terror.
The Sixth Annual Florida Run for the Fallen will start in Leon County at 7 a.m. on Friday at the Florida Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located at 463-489 S. Monroe St. in Tallahassee. From there, relay runners will stop at each Hero Marker spaced approximately one mile apart along the way to Jacksonville. When the runners stop at each marker, they will perform a short tribute ceremony for the fallen and recognize any Gold Star family, friends, comrades and community members who are waiting.
Runners will proceed through Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Columbia, Baker, Nassau and Duval Counties to finish at the Veterans Memorial Wall in Jacksonville at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8.
On Day 1 (Friday, Feb. 6), runners pass through Leon, Jefferson and part of Madison County.
On Day 2 (Saturday, Feb. 7), the runners can be seen continuing along Highway 90 and entering Suwannee County around 10:18 a.m. The runners will make stops at Hero Markers 75 through 114, where the day ends at approximately 5:16 p.m. in front of Coin Laundry, located at 916 U.S. 90 in Lake City.
Day 3 (Sunday, Feb. 8) of the event begins at 7 a.m. at the corner of U.S. 90 and 6th Street in Macclenny. Continuing their three-day honor tribute, the runners' effort will culminate with a remembrance ceremony at 1 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Wall, located at 1145 E. Adams St., adjacent to TIAA Bank Field in downtown Jacksonville.
For those who want to plan to be at one of the markers across Suwannee County on Saturday when the runners stop and perform a tribute, the list is as follows:
- 10:18 a.m. - Marker 75 - Across from Jay Veer Foodmart, 20363 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 10:29 a.m. - Marker 76 - 19788 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 10:40 a.m. - Marker 77 - Corner of U.S. 90 and West Tower Road, Live Oak
- 10:51 a.m. - Marker 78 - East of the corner of U.S. 90 and 185th Road, Live Oak
- 11:02 a.m. - Marker 79 - 17900 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 11:13 a.m. - Marker 80 - Corner of U.S. 90 and 173rd Place, Falmouth
- 11:24 a.m. - Marker 81 - West side of I-10 Interchange, Live Oak
- 11:35 a.m. - Marker 82 - 0.06 miles east of the corner of U.S. 90 and 161st Rd., Live Oak
- 11:46 a.m. - Marker 83 - 15346 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 11:57 a.m. - Marker 84 - 14750 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 12:08 p.m. - Marker 85 - 1 mile east of the corner of U.S. 90 and 149th Road, Live Oak
- 12:19 p.m. - Marker 86 - 13526 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 12:30 p.m. - Marker 87 - Corner of U.S. 90 and 129th Road, Live Oak
- 12:41 p.m. - Marker 88 - In front of Dollar General, 1315 Howard St. W., Live Oak
- 12:52 p.m. - Marker 89 - In front of Live Oak Tire Center, 303 W. Howard St., Live Oak
- 1:03 p.m. - Marker 90 - In front of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 928 E. Howard St., Live Oak
- 1:14 p.m. - Marker 91 - Merging area of U.S. 90 and 10-A Helvenston Street Southeast, Live Oak
- 1:25 p.m. - Marker 92 - 0.13 miles past the corner of U.S. 90 and 97 Lane, Sheriff's Ranches Enterprises, Live Oak
- 1:36 p.m. - Marker 93 - 0.37 miles east of U.S. 90 and 93rd Place, Live Oak
- 1:47 p.m. - Marker 94 - 0.20 miles east past Gamble & Associates, 8588 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 1:58 p.m. - Marker 95 - Entrance of Suwannee Country Club, 7932 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 2:09 p.m. - Marker 96 - 7188 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 2:20 p.m. - Marker 97 - 6726 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 2:31 p.m. - Marker 98 - 7070 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 2:42 p.m. - Marker 99 - 6850 U.S. 90, Live Oak
- 2:53 p.m. - Marker 100 - 4712 U.S. 90, Wellborn
- 3:04 p.m. - Marker 101 - 0.25 miles east of the corner of U.S. 90 and Low Lake Road, Wellborn
- 3:15 p.m. - Marker 102 - 0.4 miles east of the corner of U.S. 90 and County Road 137, Wellborn
- 3:26 p.m. - Marker 103 - Corner of U.S. 90 and 29th Road, Wellborn
This Hero Marker information has been extracted from the website florida.usarunforthefallen.org, where additional marker information can be found, along with maps of the entire route and names of heroes who will be honored at each marker. The site also provides detailed information about the event's history and will stream live coverage over the three days.
“We run dedicated miles to honor and remember each fallen hero who died since the GWOT began," the website states. "However, regardless of war or conflict, branch of service or cause of death, we ultimately run for them all. We honor their service and sacrifice, and remember that they each gave up a future so that we could have ours. We give tribute to them by name wherever possible and to the sacrifice of the families they left behind.”