Day 3 and Day 4

Time to update where we're at for the closing of Day 4!

DAY 3

We started Day 3 in and around Greensburg. Our strategy had us running 5 miles each by ourselves - breaking for lunch - and then repeating the cycle. The two drivers start after the runner has left. We stop at around 2.5 miles for a water break for the runner. Then we drive onward to 5 miles out and wait until the switch is made.

We were able to break for lunch earlier on this day than any other day! We stopped after 15 miles at a convenient pull-off right before the town of Ligonier. While we were stopped, Heather Flower and her mother stopped by to visit on their way back from church. Her dad is a United Methodist pastor and mentioned our run at his services! We would be staying with the Flowers later that night.

After a lovely lunch of peanut butter and jelly, fruit and other snacks, we continued on our way. During our second half of this day, we hit a monster hill in Laughlintown. We knew this hill would be coming because of the elevation chart (pictured on our website). All three of us ran portions of this approximately 9% grade hill. While we were stopped at one of the crests of the hill, the Mr. and Mrs. Matt Brandstetter pulled ahead of us on a motorcycle for a surprise visit! They provided us with some supplies and some money for our cause! The Brandstetters even joined in on some of the running. :) We were able to visit with them for a little while afterwards. Thanks to them for the donation and the company! Once getting at the top of the Mt. Laurel, we took pictures and continued on our way.

Upon reaching 30 miles for the day (at Haines Road, no less!), I decided to run a few extra miles so we'd be ahead of schedule. This included another hill, but we were glad to have it out of the way for the next day. Our course then took us to the Flower residence for the evening. Heather went out of her way to make us lasagna, salad, and bread - as well as brownies for dessert!!! It was her first attempt at lasagna, and it was fantastic. She also provided us with a poster with our cause information so we could begin posting at places we stop along the way.

While we were there, we discovered that there are firefighters running from NY and LA to the Flight 93 memorial site to raise money for charity as well. What are the odds we would have the same idea at the same time!? It explained the honking we had experienced along the way. Even though people probably mistook us for firemen, it was still nice to have support as we ran! The Flowers gave us an additional donation, and were all up to see us off in the morning. Thanks to them for hosting! After a restful night's sleep, it was on to the next day.

Day 4

Brian started out our day today running his 5 mile stretch. During this stretch, we passed 100 miles of our journey! As I took over the running, we were passed by Jess Miller, also a Waynesburg alum, who drove by and cheered from the vehicle! Jack's turn led us to the highest elevation of our entire trip, Bald Knob - Allegheny Mountain. We paused to get video of all of us running at the the highest portion of our run. After Jack was finished, it was time to stop for lunch.

We looked for a few different places to stop on the GPS and Google Maps. There was nothing within 12 miles according to these maps, so we started driving towards Bedford. On our way, we found a restaurant called the Fireside Inn in Schellsburg that was only a few miles from our stopping point. We decided to eat there since it was close. Despite the sign saying they didn't serve food until 4pm, we found that there must have been an exception for Labor Day. We were seated and soon ordered our food. In the meantime, a gentleman got up and came over to our table. He noticed Jack had on a Waynesburg College t-shirt, so he asked if Jack went to Waynesburg. We proceeded to tell him that we all had been students and were currently running across the state for charity. He told us that he was also an alum AND a trustee at Waynesburg University! We talked with him for a while and got our picture taken. He was thrilled to connect with a few Waynesburg alum and graciously picked up our tab at the restaurant! Special thanks to Walt Saling ('61) and his wife!!

When we went back out to the car, Jack had a voicemail from the NBC affiliate in Johnstown, PA. Our friend, and fellow Waynesburg cross country alum, Ryan Devlin, had sent our information to a few radio and news stations in the area. We called him back and gave him additional information about where we were and where we were going to be. He asked for recent pictures and information, but we were unable to upload anything due to a lack of internet along the way. Either way, it was nice to know that we may be getting additional press coverage for our run!

The day rounded out with each of us doing an extra 2 miles to meet our quota for the day. We finished around 6:15 and drove to our location for the evening - a Holiday Inn Express in Breezewood, PA. After ordering Dominoes for dinner (side note: 3 large pizzas would have cost nearly $60, but 3 mediums were only $20 - can anyone make sense out of that?), we are spending the rest of the evening relaxing, icing, and watching television.

Below are the mileage totals for each of us up to this point!

Brian = 48.85 miles

Jack = 58.85 miles

Tim = 63.80 miles

Endurance Assurance = 134.60 miles

Thanks for all the support being sent our way - it really means a lot! Keep spreading the word, and keep an eye out for us in the news. :)