Okay folks, this is it.

24 hours away before the flag hits Louisiana. I am leaving tomorrow around noon, so if you have any last minute things, call me at home...318-555-5555. I am going to turn my phone off at midnight, so try to get me ASAP if you need me. I will be on my cell phone tomorrow, thurs, and fri. for emergencies....773-555-5555. The RV number is [redacted] if you need to reach me or a coordinator. Please limit this to emergencies as you can imagine how busy I am going to be.

Okay, there are some things you need to know. In the last 24 hrs I have had a lot of people sign up to run. If you are one of those people and I haven't called you back, I apologize. Either pick a spot you would like to run and show up or you can call me tonite.

****IMPORTANT****
Every runner needs to go to the website and click on the runner section on the homepage and print up a waiver. You must sign this waiver and bring it with you. I apologize for the lateness of this, but they just sprung it on me today. If you don't have a printer, no worries, we will have the forms in the RV. If you have printing capabilities and you are running with a group of people, print extra copies and take them to your meeting point so your group can sign them before the RV gets to you. That way we will not be delayed when the RV meets your point because we have to stop and get waivers signed.

Just to clarify, you do not have to stop running when you are plotted to stop running. If you want to run longer or come back later and join for some more miles, please do so. The only reason I was plotting is to make sure I have the route covered. What you run extra is just icing on the cake.

***Rules for Runners*****
We will have police escort across the whole state of Louisiana. AT some points we will have 3-4 escorts and fire trucks that will join in our caravan. This is how the order should go...

Police-Fire-Runner-RV-support vehicles-Police. Runners please, please, please stay to the right of the road. At points when there are groups of people, stay close together and to the right. We don't want anyone hurt. The person that is running the flag should be in front of the group. Pass the flag as often as you'd like. EVERYONE that runs needs to have the experience of carrying the flag. Don't let anyone in your group be shy-make them carry it for just a minute even.

You will set the pace. Do not let the police car set the pace. You run at whatever speed you need to run. When we are in a leap frog type run, please remember to give the runners that are changing out from the RV a chance to catch up with you. Slow down while the switch is occurring. You will have many people on the side of the road. If you see someone that you really think would be impacted by carrying the flag (vet., military personel, fire and police etc.)pull them from the side of the road and encourage them to carry the flag or take pictures. This is what it's all about.

The goal of course is to have the flag continually running across the United States. We will make short stops, but none would be ideal. A few people are walking the route. We will try to keep this to a minimum as I'm sure you see how time consuming this will be. Media stops are priority. We need to get the word out so we can have a lot of money raised for the victims of Sept. 11th.

How many people have you told about the Flagrun? Probably not enough....there's no such thing as enough. Call your family, friends, co-workers and get them to come out and support you and the other 300 runners that are running across Louisiana. Let's show the United States how patriotic Louisianians are.

If you are willing to be a backup runner in case someone doesn't show up, please call me tonite so I can put you on my list. Remember, black bottoms, white tops if you can.

We will have shirts for the runners. They are $5.00 and 100% of the proceeds got to our charity. Non-runners are $10.00.

We will have water and power bars if you are thirsty while running, but feel free to bring what you need while you run.

I am so excited about this, I can hardly even speak. I'm so glad that each of you are going to be a part of this monumental run. I can't wait to meet each of you. I'll see you at your designated spots Wed, Thur, and Fri. Oh, if you want to catch my tv debut, you can catch channel 3 tonite at 10pm. I'll be on 12 thur. at 630am. I must be dedicated to our cause if I'm going on tv!!!

In Unity,

Robin