Amazed Again

Friday was another great day, the weather was absolutely beautiful! We started off the day in Rathdrum, Idaho as small bedroom community of about 10,000 people about 25 minutes away from Coeur d’Alene. When we arrived in Rathdrum, it was clear skies and the temperature in the middle 20’s. The entire team was together today for all four towns. The run into Rathdrum was a little over 1.2 miles. It is just amazing and so inspiring to see the people in this part of the country and the outpouring of support that they are showing to the officers and athletes. We ran down the main road of Rathdrum at 8am local time when many of the residents were trying to go to work or conduct their daily business and again people are rolling down their windows in their cars, clapping, taking pictures with their cell phones, exiting their cars, business and homes to cheer on the runners. This was a re-occurring theme through the day. In Post Falls along our 1.6 mile run all of the employees from the local wal-mart joined their customers standing along side the route waving American flags, hifiving the officers and athletes as the past. The group at Wal-Mart even started chanting USA as we went by. I think every runner had chills after that and even saw a few tears being wiped away from eyes in the cold brisk air. The air was crystal clear Friday morning and you could see for ever, the mountains with their snow tips, just made me think over and over what an amazing experience this is to be a part of. In post falls we were greeted by the high school band and officers from all over the county. Post Falls is the home to Buck knives. Chris was presented with a blanket from the Post Falls Police Department. The blanket has the Post Falls patch and badge on it. From Post Falls we had a two hour drive to Lewiston, Idaho. Lewiston is name after Lewis from the Lewis and Clark expedition. As you come into Lewiston valley area, you are greeted with an amazing view, over a 2,000 foot drop. The team stopped and took photos from the bluff, which was such a treat because of how clear it was. Once in Lewiston we were greeted with the same reception for a 1.4 mile run. The town’s people lined the streets again waving American flags and cheering the runners on, once we arrived at the ceremony we were greeted by the local fire department pipe and drums. For the last stop of the day we were in Moscow, Idaho which is the home of the University of Idaho. This was an unbelievable stop. The team ran through the campus and the students lined the sidewalks cheering us on. We ran through Greek row with all of the sorority and fraternity’s members lined the street high fiving us. We then ran past the Moscow police station where an officer was killed a few years ago by a sniper. A retired Oklahoma City officer David Duke is now their Deputy Chief, he had retired before I joined the department but it was a cool to meet a fellow Oklahoma City officer and introduce Chris to him. After a ninety minute ride back to hotel we went to Cedars Floating restaurant. I had fresh Alaskan salmon that was unbelievable and Chris had the Rib eye. We are truly being shown an amazing time!!