On Aug. 11, 2011, a group of Marines ran 100 miles – from Thurmont, Md., to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia – to honor a comrade, Capt. Tyler B. Swisher, and to raise funds for his family.
After that first run, those Marines – all veterans of Marine Barracks 8th and I in Washington D.C., a unit tasked with ceremonial and security duties involving the President of the United States – decided to make their little jog an annual event. The run is intended to raise money and awareness for those who have lost family members in the line of duty.
The Always Brothers’ 100-mile runs have branched out from that first one on the East Coast. This year’s 100-mile run in Washington state benefits surviving military family members by helping fund education for children of fallen warriors.
This year’s event starts at 6 a.m. at Leschi Marina in Seattle on July 26 and winds through 21 South King and North Pierce county cities before finishing at Century Link Field in Seattle. Like all the Always Brothers runs, the one in Washington one should be completed in less than 27 hours.
Sometime between 9 and 11 that night, runners will pass through Pacific, where City Councilmember Katie Garberding and others will be waiting to cheer them on.
In fact, Garberding, the daughter of a soldier, is doing more than just cheering.
She is organizing several fundraising events for the Always Brother run, hoping to raise more than $7,000 for the organization.
“We’re going to have a booth at Pacific Days, where we will be selling tickets for an auction dinner to be hosted beginning at 6:30 p.m. July 26,” she said. “Tickets are $10 per person, $25 for a family up to six people. But no one will be turned away. I want people to be able to come. It’s a community thing. We are going to have a band playing for the evening, the Flash Backs.”
The dinner auction will offer more than 30 different baskets and other items, all donated by community members in and businesses. The event will be in the Pacific City Gymnasium, 305 Milwaukee Blvd. S., next to City Hall. Following the event, Garberding and supporters will walk out to greet runners as the pass by City Hall.
Additionally, on July 19, the public gets the opportunity to chip in by getting their cars washed, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Pacific Dairy Queen parking lot. Proceeds from the car wash support the cause.
“Jerry Eck from Valley Recycling is paying for the water, and AutoZone is providing the cleaning supplies,” Garberding said.
Garberding will be in a booth at the Auburn Farmers Market on July 20 to sell more tickets and provide information about the organization.
“I just decided what they do is so spectacular and that we had to do something this year to show our support,” Garberding said. “We don’t take enough care of the families of our military men and women. Back in 1944, my mom was 5 months pregnant when her husband was killed in France. At the time, she received her husband’s Purple Heart, a flag, 150 bucks and a telegram. Sad to say that 70 years later they don’t receive much more.”
For more information, please contact Garberding at imadaisylady@aol.com.
