Ultramarathon benefiting injured Marines to go through West Seattle and South Park Aug. 11th


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That map represents the West Seattle/South Park leg of a run we have just learned about via this announcement:

Residents are invited to cheer Marines from Always Brothers as they run 100 miles Aug. 10 and 11 from Seattle to Orting and back to honor military heroes from Washington State and to raise money for research of brain diseases and injuries experienced by veterans.

A group of Marines and civilians, some local and some from other parts of the U.S., will depart Leschi at 6 a.m., Aug. 10, and run through Mercer Island, Renton, Maple Valley, and Enumclaw before stopping at the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Soldiers Home in Orting. After a short break there they’ll continue along the outskirts of Puyallup and on through Sumner, Auburn, Kent, Tukwila, South Park and West Seattle, where they will be joined by a police escort as they cross the West Seattle bridge and finish, as a group, at CenturyLink Field at 9 a.m., Aug. 11.

This is the third year Always Brothers, a non-profit fraternal organization made up of Marines, other veterans, and their supporters, has hosted a 100-mile, 24-hour ultramarathon to benefit Marines and their families. This ultramarathon, unique in that it is not a race, will raise money for One Mind for Research™, a Seattle nonprofit dedicated to curing brain diseases, including traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress (PTS).

“My original inspiration for working to improve diagnostics and treatments for brain injuries was the incredible number of soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with TBI and PTS,” says ONE MIND’s CEO Gen. Pete Chiarelli (Ret.), Seattle native and former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army. “We are proud to be supported by veterans’ organizations like Always Brothers to aid our mission of dealing with these ‘invisible wounds’ in both the military and civilian populations.”

Some runners will run the entire 100 miles while others will run as part of a team, with each team member running 5 to 25-mile legs. No matter the distance each participant runs, the ultramarathon is not a race. Participants will stick together the entire way, raising awareness of brain diseases and the stigma associated with them.

“Running 100 miles in 24 hours won’t be easy, but it’s nothing compared to what soldiers with PTS and TBI face,” says Marine Dan Neilsen, Maple Valley resident and vice president of Always Brothers. “We invite anyone and everyone to cheer us along the route, come to the north plaza of CenturyLink Field at 9 a.m. on Aug. 11 to watch us finish, or support the run financially at active.com/donate/AlwaysBros100OneMind.”

People interested in supporting virtually, or following the runners online can receive social media updates using the hashtag #100forONEMIND on Aug. 10 and 11.

As you can see in the map above, the West Seattle leg will primarily be on West Marginal Way SW, and organizers estimate they’ll be in the vicinity around 8 am August 11th, a week from this Sunday.

8 Replies to "Ultramarathon benefiting injured Marines to go through West Seattle and South Park Aug. 11th"

  • elisaid July 31, 2013 (1:18 pm)

    I would be interested in the rest of the schedule for this marathon.

    • WSB July 31, 2013 (1:56 pm)

      E – if you follow the “see map larger” link it shows the whole route, for starters …

  • elisaid July 31, 2013 (3:39 pm)

    I was more curious about a possible eta for when they do their rest stop in Orting. Depending on the time, it might be fun to take a motorcycle ride down that way.

  • Steve f July 31, 2013 (3:53 pm)

    My knee is injured, no ultras for me for awhile, so I definitely will be spectating and cheering

  • Joe Szilagyi July 31, 2013 (4:22 pm)

    Anyone who can run an ultramarathon is basically the walking definition of hard core.

  • Mike July 31, 2013 (10:42 pm)

    donation form link is broken?

  • WSB July 31, 2013 (10:54 pm)

    Try it again. I think I spotted the missing character. – TR

  • Barbara Boelk August 1, 2013 (8:09 am)

    Thank you so much for posting this information! Always Brothers is excited to bring our run to the Seattle area to benefit soldiers and their families who face post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. You can friend us on Facebook, Always Brothers, and you can connect with us on Twitter @alwaysbrothers.

    Donations can be made through the PayPal or Active.com buttons on http://alwaysbrothers.org/donations.php

    We expect to stop in Orting, at the Washington Soldiers Home around 7:15 p.m. or so. This is at about mile 53 of the run, so it will be nice to have a break. And we’d love to see you! Let us know if you have any more questions.

    –Always Brothers

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