The New York Run for the Fallen is making its way east to Albany from Syracuse this weekend.
The estimated 140-mile run, consisting of a team of 30 or more runners, will be recognizing the more than 340 New York service members who have recently died in the line of duty.
Each mile of the route will be dedicated to an individual New York hero and his or her family.
The run team will also stop each mile to give individual tribute to waiting Gold Star family members, friends, and comrades.
A dinner is planned for tonight's layover at the AMVETS Post in Fort Plain.
Laura Sutton, with the organizing group Honor and Remember, says all are welcome to attend.
"The runners will be there, of course, and the crew, and then the Gold Star families that will be attending; all Gold Star families are invited, and it's no charge. If the public comes, donations would be great if they would like, otherwise, it's no charge to them as well."
Sutton says there will be personalized flag presentations to each Gold Star family at the dinner.
She adds that the reason people are even doing the run really boils down to one idea.
"A lot of the runners do it because they really want to give back, they run for those who can't, and so, they actually chant a theme, 'Who do we run for? We run for them! Why do we run? We run for them!'"
The run ends tomorrow afternoon at the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument in Albany's LaFayette Park, across from the State Capitol.
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