Wear Blue: Run to Remember

I am a politics nerd. Besides running, it’s my other obsession….two very different things that don’t often collide. (Stop it. I know you are picturing Bill Clinton in those very short running shorts….or perhaps the more recent, wrong.on.so.many.levels Newsweek cover featuring Sarah Palin in her running shorts.) But over the last several months, I’ve had a growing awareness of few things that has inspired me to find a connection I never thought I would. Let’s start with the experience that got me thinking….and thanks in advance for bearing with me...this is a long post.

I got a new job last fall and traveled to NYC for training in September. I stayed in our corporate apartment, just blocks from Ground Zero and had the weekend to explore the city on my own. That Sunday morning, I wandered down to the construction zone that is the Ground Zero memorial and happened onto the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K Run. I found a good spot and hung out watching the race and cheering on the runners.

Stephen Siller had just finished his shift at his Brooklyn firehouse and was headed out to play golf with his brothers when he heard that the first Tower had been hit. He raced back to his firehouse to find his company had already left, so he suited up, grabbed his gear, and headed towards Manhattan on his own. He got to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and found it already closed to traffic so he abandoned his vehicle and hiked through the parking lot of cars with 60 pounds of gear strapped on his back. He made it to the Towers, where he ultimately lost his life doing the job that he loved. 

The Tunnel to Towers Run was started by Stephen’s siblings to honor his legacy. The 5K retraces his steps and as the runners exit the tunnel, they are greeted by Firefighters holding 343 flags honoring the NYC Firefighters that lost their lives that day. It was one of the most moving things I’ve ever witnessed. I wanted to be a part of the run so badly, but also felt really fortunate that I got to see it firsthand. Totally by accident.

Flash forward 6 months to the next thing…..I am a nightly, can’t.miss.it. viewer of The Rachel Maddow Show. Not only is she a super duper smarty-pants, she is incredibly sarcastic and funny, which is exactly how I like my journalist-pundits. Her book, Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, was just released and I could not put it down; it’s currently #1 on the New York Times Nonfiction Bestsellers List for good reason. The premise that she argues, quite eloquently, is that there has been a steady and dramatic change in way the U.S. goes to war: that there has been an expansion of presidential power, a corresponding collapse of Congressional backbone and a tiny fraction of Americans that do the fighting while the rest of the country blithely carries on with their normal lives, permitting a majority to remain oblivious to its grisly human price.

The move towards absolute presidential power to bring our country to war, irrespective of Congressional or public debate has resulted in country that is completely disassociated from the shrinking number of Americans actually fighting this war. It used to be that when the country went to war, there was shared sacrifice; but since the Vietnam War, that has steadily changed to the point where we fought or are still fighting decades-long wars by the same exhausted military and you wouldn’t know it to look at us. "We've drifted away from America's original ideals and become a nation weirdly at peace with perpetual war, with all the financial and human costs that entails," Rachel writes.

This is very troubling to me. I didn’t grow up with much exposure to the military; my dad was in the Navy for a few years in the 60’s but he didn’t talk much about it and that was that. I have a teenage daughter who has never really known what it’s like not to be living in a country at war, since she was only 3 when 9/11 happened. That being said, her experience growing up during wartime is remarkably different than say, a girl who grew up during WWII or even Vietnam. That collective sacrifice is not only not happening, there isn’t even much general awareness of it.

I don’t think it’s right that the same number of rapidly shrinking military families are bearing the brunt of this exhausting, never-ending war. I don’t think it’s right that funding this never-ending war means that properly taking care of these brave men and women when they return home is less likely to happen. And I don’t think it’s right that the rest of America is so unaware of the sacrifices and toll this is taking on those that are fighting for our country over and over again. 

Here's where it circles back to running.

When I started my training last summer, I became aware of a group that wants to bridge that gap—the one between those fighting and the communities in which they come from. Wear Blue: Run to Remember is an organization that has three main goals:

• Act as a support network
• Create a living memorial
• And bridge the gap between the military and the community.

I have found runners to be a generous, supportive and inclusive community. This group is no exception. They provide support to the men, women and their families preparing for, living through, and recovering from deployment. The blue shirts they wear serve as a living memorial so that every step they run is a tribute to the Service Members who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. 

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Joining this community allows members to have a tangible way to show their appreciation and support for the Military; every Saturday local groups meet for a run together. Before setting off, they gather and call out the names of Fallen Heroes. The living memorial to the fallen is created by everyone who dons the Wear Blue shirt and a sea of blue can be found at local races honoring them by name or picture.

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A runner friend I met on Facebook (shoutout to Bill S!) is an active member in the Joint Base Lewis-McChord chapter and his posts inspired me to find out more and ultimately join this organization. I’ve ordered my shirt and it should arrive right before the Heroes Half Marathon on 4/29.

I hope to see some other runners out in Blue, since this race is about honoring the Heroes among us, from Military to civilian First Responders to the kids benefiting from St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. I plan to try to make it down to Dupont for one of the JBLM's Saturday runs sometime very soon. And will definitely Wear Blue in the upcoming Heroes race and the Seattle Rock and Roll, which the local chapter plans to have a big presence at. 

It feels good to find my own way to honor the shrinking number of families impacted by their loved ones serving multiple deployments, the individuals making daily sacrifices I can't even imagine, and those that have lost their lives in the fight. It's a small thing but connecting with that community will be my way of showing my support.