To All Runners and Volunteers for the New York portion of the Flag Run:

Greeting and thanks for signing up. I apologize for one of us not being able to contact every one of you personally. THE FLAG IS ON THE WAY! At 10:00 pm on Thursday night it is in Providence, RI with a massive escort of police, fire department, US Military, EMS, and airline employees. We’re just about a day away from flag reaching the New York border along RT 1 in Port Chester on Saturday morning, Oct 13th. So it’s time to mobilize the troops. The original logistical plan however has gone by the wayside as the response from runners has been overwhelming. We had no idea it would become this big! THANK YOU! We planned on one runner taking the flag for a mile or two and handing it off to the next runner, and so on. At last count, there’s over 160 runners signed up to do approximately 30 miles! However, nobody will be denied a chance for the honor of carrying our flag through New York. We’ll run in a group, and everyone will pass the flag from one runner to the next. Please be sensitive to the priority volunteer runners and be sure to give them the opportunity to carry the flag. Those would of course be those most affected by the tragedy of Sept 11th, pilots, flight attendants, police and firemen and of course anyone that lost a friend or loved one.

First, here is what we need, than I’ll follow with the route and timeline.

• Cars and vans to transport runners, especially up in Westchester and the Bronx where public transportation is minimal. Please bring friends or family to assist in transporting you or other runners. We made arrangements for a bus, but we’re way beyond capacity.
• Water and food. Coffee, bagels, Power Bars and the like for the really serious athletes.
• Donuts. (Rumor has it that the cops like these!) Ok... it was a joke!
• Does anyone have a connection with a bus company for use further down the run in other states? Please let me know.
• Fire Dept. escorts in Westchester. We have police on board. The more vehicles with cherries on top, the safer we will be. Makes for good show too as the world’s press will be watching. Don’t forget to smile for the cameras.
• Does anyone have American Legion, AMVETS, military or National Guard connections? Invite them out for the NY run, and have them contact me for support across the US.
• If you wish to participate in other states, please go back to the website www.flagrun2001.org. to sign up for the state(s) you are interested in.
• We may or may not make it to the WTC site. This is dependent on FD escort and approval. In any case, they may only allow a small representation to the site. We will all get close however, down on Chambers St between Broadway and 8th Ave. The rest of the entourage will wait for the flag and continue back uptown to the Holland Tunnel. We have also decided on a very short detour at 103rd St and Riverside Dr. to run past the Fireman’s Memorial.
• If anyone needs a room in Manhattan, we’ve been offered a good deal at the Southgate Hotel on 7th at 31st. Please contact Donna Stabile at

My name is David Kavanagh and i reside in a small town, Gatton, about 1hr West of Brisbane, in Queensland, Australia. I was watching "TODAY" on NBC, which is broadcast here in Australia early in the morning on Channel 7. I noted your run across America to support the Sept 11th disaster.

I would like to send on my support from the other side of the world and wish that i could be apart of your run in Amercia.

GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS AMERICA !!

Regards

David Kavanagh
Gatton, QLD, Australia