A School's P.E. Program To Win $500

Today was the final day for registered school teams to log miles toward reaching the 500-mile mark (the finish line) of this journey. All of the participating schools that reported at least one of their teams as completing the trek by 6:00 p.m., PST, today are entered into tomorrow's drawing for $500.00 to benefit a school's P.E. Program. The P.A.C.E. Healthy School Award is sponsored by Youth Runner magazine and the winning school will be announced on this web site by Thursday afternoon, May 14.

Video Files From The Past Couple Of Days...

I've had some trouble uploading my video files for the past couple of days and opted to e-mail those to my friend Rob to upload. He has uploaded those, so you may want to go back to May 10 and May 11 to view the video files in the right-hand column of those pages in the Today's Video Files section. You have to see the one of the semi truck passing me in the rain/sleet storm! Also, the videos for today have been uploaded. You can click on the links to the right to watch those!

The Finish Of A Great Adventure...

At 3:15 p.m. Alaska time I completed P.A.C.E. Trek 2009 at Milepost Zero of the Alaska Highway in Delta Junction. It was a cloudy morning to begin and I had a few rain showers early on. Then, the sun started to come out and I stayed dry for the final 20 miles of the day! The biggest battle of today's 30-mile run was the headwind out of the north. It was persistent and was the final hurdle that I had to conquer before reaching the finish line. I'm glad to say that "Bob" and I finished safely and had a wonderful adventure.

"Bob"... What A Stroller!

I always enjoy hearing how much kids like "Bob" the stroller. It is truly an amazing three-wheel gear carrier. So far, Bob has rolled 4,380 miles on P.A.C.E. journeys (the 2006 U.S.A. run; the 2008 Montana trek; and, the 2009 Alaska adventure). You might find it interesting that Bob did not get any flat tires during this 500-mile trek through Alaska. That's incredible considering some of the surface conditions I went over. Overall, Bob did a great job and has proven to be one tough competitor!

Over 20,000 Kids Did This With Me...

It's an amazing feeling to run toward a finish line knowing that you are running there with over 20,000 kids virtually running and walking along with you. Today I was thinking about the kids around the world who have run and walked around their school gymnasiums and playgrounds, counting laps and getting more distance each week. Today I reached the finish line in Delta Junction for all of them. My footprints represented the effort of thousands of kids globally who stepped out toward better health and fitness, as well as greater learning, during this year's P.A.C.E. Trek challenge. As I ran today I was recalling many of the kind words that school children had written to me over the past three weeks, using their words as fuel to push to the finish line. This truly was a team effort, and everyone participating in P.A.C.E. Trek 2009 was like one big team... with the runners and walkers located in various countries - but with the same goal. It was an awesome feeling today and it wouldn't have been possible without teachers who believe in P.A.C.E. and students who are willing to go the distance. Congratulations to all of you!

The Team Results Are In... as of 6 p.m., PST, today!

A total of 230 teams were registered for this year's trek, and of that total there were 188 teams that reported mileage progress. I'm not sure if the 42 teams that did not report mileage actually participated, but I'd like to think so. Of the 188 teams that reported mileage, 109 teams actually logged 500 or more miles (and 500 miles is how far I ran through Alaska). As of the time I'm writing this, the "Page Eagles" of Page Middle School (Gloucester, Virginia) have reported more miles of any individual team. They got a total of 5,800 miles during the three-week P.A.C.E. Trek. Awesome job for a team of 300 kids! That's an average of 19.3 miles per student. "Team Panda" of Olive Vista Middle School (Sylmar, California) logged the second largest total of miles. Their team of 300 kids logged 4,901 miles - an average of 16.3 miles per student. However, buried in the team statistics are some amazing results by smaller teams. For instance, Lajes High School (Lajes, Portugal) had a team called "Lajes Falcons" which consisted of only 10 students. They logged 505 miles - which is an average of about 50 miles per student. Also, Melstone Elementary of Melstone, Montana had a team called the "Melstone Broncs" consisting of 11 students. They logged 640 miles (which is an average of 58.1 miles per student). Perhaps one of the most impressive efforts came from the students at Peter Kirk Elementary in Kirkland, Washington. Their team, "4th Grade Eagles", consisted of only 26 students. However, those kids logged 2,199 miles during the three-week trek - which is an average of 84.5 miles per student! Wow! Some teams have informed me that they will continue to log miles until the end of their school years, and that they'll continue reporting at this site. That's great. It sure is wonderful to see all of those miles!

So, What Now??

Tomorrow I'll be doing a school assembly at Fort Greely Middle School here in Delta Junction. Then, my parents and I will drive about 150 miles to their home in Tolsona where I will be relaxing for a few days. Bob will relax too! Next Monday and Tuesday I have school assemblies in the Wasilla/Palmer area and then on Wednesday, May 20, I fly home to my family in Missoula, Montana. So, that's what's ahead. Also, over the next few days I'll be working on the final P.A.C.E. Trek 2009 music slideshow which will feature pictures from the entire trek and include pictures of participating teams and kids. I'll let you know when that is ready to view. I'll actually post an announcement here at the P.A.C.E. Trek web site and I'll send out an e-mail message about it. I'll also work on getting individual pictures posted into the right-hand column of the journal pages from the past several days when I haven't had an opportunity to do that. Whew! It has been a busy 3 weeks and I'm feeling the weariness of the miles, web site work, communications, body repair, and everything else that goes into putting this trek together each year. I hope that you've enjoyed this adventure through Alaska. I certainly have and I'll keep you posted of what's next. Thanks for running along. "Bob" and I couldn't have done it without you!

That's all from this Alaska milepost! What an Adventure!!