Storms Won't Stop Run for the Fallen at Winthrop Today

More than three times the number of people who showed up for last year's Run for the Fallen presented by the Tampa Area Marine Parents Association were expected to pay tribute at Winthrop to the men and women who have lost their lives in service to their country.

The annual event, now in its fifth year, is scheduled to start with registration 8 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 26. This year's event for the first time included a Saturday night candlelight vigil and a memorial of crosses planted for a week leading up to the run.

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"It's good to be able to here, to be a part of this," said Marine Brandon Smith, 25, following the Saturday night vigil. In years past, he added, "I've always been in the field or deployed," including a stint in Afghanistan.

Cyd Deathe is the president and executive director of the Tampa Area Marine Parents Association, the group that runs the race and walk. Her business card notes, too, that she is a "Wounded Warrior Mom."

"This is the first time we had a candlelight vigil," she said at Winthrop on Saturday night. "The biggest race run was last year, with 850 runners. This year we have pre-registered more than 2,500 runners and we usually get another 200 on race day. It's incredible."

Further aiding the effort this year was the permission of Winthrop Town Founders John and Kay Sullivan to allow for the erection of a memorial for a week leading up to the event.

The memorial includes planted white crosses that bear the names of Florida soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Larger white crosses bear the names of each of America's conflicts, and the number of soldiers lost in each of those wars. Flags are planted as well for each branch of service.

"When we were setting up we had people starting to come," Deathe said. "We think this has helped our numbers, being able to be here for a week, because then the community can connect and because they connect they want to come back."

The event kicks off today, Aug. 26, with registration at 8 a.m. and an opening ceremony an hour later. The free 10K, 5K and 1 mile run/walk, for men, women and children, immediately follows the ceremony.

The aim is to collectively run or walk one mile for every service member who has been killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Runners pledge to walk or run as well for all the fallen soldiers across the nation.

"It's phenomenal," Deathe said about the Greater Brandon and Riverview interest in this year's event, which in years past was held at E.G. Simmons Park in Ruskin. "It's not about us. It's not about our ogranization. This is something we can give the community. It is what it is, that we can fulfill our promise."

That promise is the founding premise of the group founded as the Tampa Area Marine Parents Association, but whose mission transcends the Marines and includes soldiers in all branches of service.

"Our mission," Deathe said, "is to educate our country to never forget the sacrifice that is being made every day."