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A tribute to our troops during the Milton 10K tomorrow

The Milton Independence Day 10K will celebrate 30 years tomorrow. This event has been on my calendar for July 4th for a few of those 30 years. The out and back course is nice and the proceeds from the entry fees go to the Milton Optimist. As I was plodding along Sunday morning in the heat I had an idea. A tribute. I wanted to run in military gear to honor our veterans and current troops serving throughout the world. Thanks to these men and women we have the freedom to do things like run for a charity.

I secured my flak jacket and pack from Eric Stockman at Extreme Fitness (along with 35 pounds to throw in the pack). My tribute. Most of my friends thought it was a tribute but one felt it was a tad hokey. He suggested raising funds for those troops that are no longer able to run - raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Excellent idea! The downside? I had two days to contact the organization and get a donation page set up. No chance.

What I did was set up a page on Online Fundraising Now and I'll funnel the one-time donation directly to the Project. It worked well and I'll be able to make a one-time donation to WWP.

There are a few things I hear at races that make me cringe. One of them is, "This race was a death march". Really? In Bataan, if they slowed or stopped they were beaten or killed. I don't think this fun run was a death march. Those troops were in harms way to secure our freedom. The other is, "I couldn't tell if the guy I was racing was in my age group". Meanwhile, our troops in Afghanistan are wondering if the people around them are friend or foe. They are protecting our freedom.

Ill be in my gear tomorrow morning as a tribute. I am not a veteran but I thank all of our veterans and active troops. Thanks to you we can celebrate our freedom on July 4th.

Steve Knox was born, raised and landed back in Janesville. He encourages you to participate as he writes on Janesville and beyond as this Generation X guy supports his Janesville mission, global vision. Steve is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. His opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.