Wednesday, August 7, 2002
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Wednesday, August 7, 2002 |
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A 10K a day for Hope House
By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
Peachtree City resident Rebecca Stokes ran almost 100 miles and raised over $4,000 for other kids who can't run. Stokes and her father, Don, drove Atlanta to Nauvoo, Ill., which is located on the banks of the Mississippi River. From there Rebecca would run a 10K each day while her father drove a golf cart. Their goal was to make it to Salt Lake City, Utah for the Founders Day Race, a 10K race near the end of July and their mission was to raise money for Hope House, a Children's Respite Hospice in Union City. Rebecca and her dad had some amazing experiences as they covered 1,300 miles in three weeks. When they kicked off their journey, a local television news crew captured Rebecca's first run of the trek over a bridge. She was also honored at a stock car race in Lincoln, Neb. where she called out the main event and gave out the trophy, threw out the first pitch at a minor league baseball game in Salt Lake City and was honored at Rodeo Finals at the Delta Center, also in Salt Lake City. The trail that they followed is known as the Pioneer/Westward Emigration Trail and some of Rebecca's ancestors most likely rode along that trail on their journey westward. The sights that both of the Stokes took in as they made their way to Utah included the Continental Divide, as well as parts of Iowa and Wyoming. Though the trip had lots of beauty, temperatures did reach ovewr 100 degrees, forcing Rebecca to run either early in the morning or later in the evening. The trek has raised over $4,000 but there has not been a final tally yet as money continues to come in from people that heard about Hope House during the Stokes' journey. As for Rebecca's current running plans, she continues to run three miles a day to reach her goal of running 1,000 miles by the end of the year. She also plans on running cross country once the school year starts. Rebecca runs with the Peachtree City Running Club, the Peachtree City Flash youth track team and the Atlanta Track Club.
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