'It's mainly just not wanting people to forget'

By ERIC PLUMMER

Sports editor

SANDPOINT — First things first: This isn’t about Mike Ehredt.

Rather, it’s about Lori Piestewa, Jay Aubin, Pat Tillman, and closer to home, David Lyon.

Starting this morning at 6 a.m. at Travers Park, Sandpoint resident Mike Ehredt, 55, will run 50 miles a day for six consecutive days, stopping after each mile to place a flag on a mural, honoring the latest 300 U.S. soldiers to die in war.

Dubbed Project America Run III, this run follows the inaugural 4,424-mile run from the Oregon Coast to Maine in 2010 for Iraq victims, and a 2,146-mile run from the Canadian border to Galveston, Texas, in 2012 for the Afghanistan victims.

Since the last run, another 300 soldiers have died, including Sandpoint’s David Lyon in 2013, a death that shook many in the community. Ehredt usually plants the flags in chronological order, but since the run is taking place in Sandpoint, he’s going to honor Lyon last on Memorial Day, Monday, May 30 at 9:45 a.m., when he hopes to walk the final mile with any of Lyon’s family and friends who would like to join him.

In the end, it’s keeping a fallen soldier’s memory alive that matters most to Ehredt, driving him to run 6,870 miles, each left with a flag including the soldier’s name, age, hometown and military rank.

“Everybody is destined to do one thing in their life that they’re truly destined to do. It’s not for personal gain, it’s mainly just not wanting people to forget,” explained Ehredt of his motivation. “Moms’ and dads’ biggest fear is ‘I don’t want my son to be forgotten.’”

Ehredt was in the Army from 1979-83 as a heavy equipment operator, then worked 28 years at the post office before retiring, and is now a trainer at Sandpoint West Athletic Club.

He can pound the pavement with the best of them, biting off a big chunk by running 300 miles in six days, or roughly two marathons a day. Unlike the past runs, which canvased the United States, this one will stay in Travers Park, where Ehredt will run 50 laps, stopping occasionally for food, bathroom breaks and to plant the next flag.

The mural was created by local artist Beth Pederson, and includes the first two routes across a map of the U.S. and a star by Sandpoint for the third run. Like many, she has nothing but respect for what Ehredt is doing.

“I think he’s amazing,” said Pederson, who took five-and-a-half hours to make the mural. “I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Her efforts, like many, were appreciated by Ehredt.

“There are today people and tomorrow people,” said Ehredt. “Beth is a today person.”

Each flag placed in the mural has a story, has family, has friends who are missing a loved one. Ehredt has connected with many of them, but never seeks them out to let them know. Each of the previous flags is logged by latitude and longitude on GPS, and can by viewed online.

“That’s the cool thing about every flag, you can see where they’re placed,” Ehredt said. “People have traveled to see them.”

While the other runs were cross country, this one is staying in one place, which means not only will Ehredt not have to deal with the traffic that comes with running across the country, he’ll also get to sleep in his own bed at night, a huge perk after daily 50-mile jaunts.

“The others were always point to point, water to water,” remembered Ehredt. “I said ‘I can keep it right here in Sandpoint.’ Sandpoint lost one of its own.”

As big as the U.S. is, it’s still small enough for a couple of coincidences.

Of the 6,870 total, 38 are women. In fact, the very first female fatality and 13th overall was a woman named Lori Piestewa, whom Ehredt’s wife, Peggy Gaudet, once taught on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona.

In another amazing coincidence, when Ehredt finished his first run in Maine, he stayed with a former Army roommate from 1979 named Barry Sites. When Ehredt mentioned that the first fatality in Iraq was from Maine, his former roommate knew exactly who he was talking about.

“He said ‘you see that house right there?’” recalled Ehredt of Sites, who was pointing down the street. “‘Jay Aubin grew up there.”

One of the flags Ehredt planted during the second run belonged to Pat Tillman, a former NFL player and Army Ranger killed in Afghanistan. Ehredt took a picture of the flag and sent it to former Sandpoint resident and Arizona Cardinal Jake Plummer, a close friend and teammate of Tillman’s whom Ehredt had met once in Sandpoint.

“At milepost 183, I put down Pat Tillman’s flag and took a picture and sent it to Jake. Jake replied back that Pat would always say, ‘That guy’s a F-ing champion,’” recalled Ehredt of the exchange. “He said ‘so as Pat would say Mike, ‘You’re an F-ing champ.’ I said, ‘Thanks Jake.’”

Of the next 300 flags, several have regional ties, including Coeur d’Alene Army Specialist Nicholas Newby, a 20-year-old who died in Iraq. Ehredt will plant his flag today around 5 p.m.

Ehredt has a book coming out in the fall, which he was originally going to title “12 Million Steps”, but may end up changing the name, chronicling his journeys.

He’s also hoping to find a permanent home for the memorial mural somewhere in the community, where it can be displayed for years to come for all to see.

But first things first, he’s got 300 miles to run this week, and he hopes to have plenty of company. Gaudet’s Kootenai Elementary third-grade class is joining Ehredt on Wednesday at 10 a.m. for some laps, as will a couple of Farmin Stidwell classes. Each day from 4-5 p.m. Ehredt plans to walk, and any and all are welcome to join him at any time between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day.

“It’s a big bone to chew,” admitted Ehredt of running 50 miles a day, noting he’ll have plenty of help. “I’ve got a whole community of people saying ‘what can I bring you to eat.’”

Information: www.projectamericarun.com