LAS VEGAS!

pics posted by Pat Wills
(thank you for the pics, Val & Deedee)


Clark County fire station 11 welcomes runners.


TOD patron, Jerry Lewis, visits with Aussies.


TOD runners at Las Vegas sign before the strip run.

'What a sight!  The Bellagio fountain show playing
"Proud to be an American"

Rob's image on the Fremont Street Experience canopy. How cool is that!


TOD images on Fremont Street Experience canopy.

Robert & Jake Melia committed to run the entire 9 miles with the TOD team!


family and friends

TOD team pic @ Fremont Street

You did good, Rob.

Rob was given the responsibility to coordinate the team's entrance to Las Vegas from the permits, police escorts, shutting down of the strip. Thank you Councilman Anthony, Bellagio staff, Fremont Street Experience staff, Aria staff, CC fire station 11 for the very warm welcome.


The first day of the run was a pretty tough one logistically. We didn't get to our RV staging area in Baker until 0100 Friday morning. I got about 3 hours sleep before waking up to prepare for running at about 5:00am that same morning.

We arrived in Nevada with LVMPD Patrol escort ready to lead us into town. We traveled down old LVB from Jean all the way to the CCFD fire station across from the "Welcome To Las Vegas" sign on LVB/Russell where we were treated to dinner. The patron of the event and American icon, Jerry Lewis, arrived at the station to speak to the crowd. At about 11:00pm we walked over to the "Welcome To Las Vegas" sign to take a team photograph with Jerry Lewis.

The LVMPD Traffic escort team, headed by Lt. John Faulis, lead our run down the Las Vegas Strip at 11:40pm. They did a phenomenal job the entire route and really showcased the LVMPD for all to see. I was very proud on the professional way that they managed the escort - down Las Vegas Blvd to downtown Las Vegas, at midnight on a Friday night, without a single hitch! It was an unbelievable sight and the entire team was extremely impressed.

As we began the 9 mile stretch of LVB, one of the FDNY team members lead the run up front of the pack playing the bagpipes! My son Robert, and John Melia's son Jake, joined the team and ran the entire route with us! We arrived at the Bellagio at midnight where we paused the convoy in the lefthand turn lane and the runners walked over to the front of the water show. Thanks to my good friend and fellow water polo teammate, Chris Magee (who is in Bellagio management), we were treated to a special water show specifically to honor our event and the victims of 9-11. The song "Proud to be an American" began as we all stood and watched the special water show with pride. A seasoned Chicago fire fighter and fellow TOD runner, Pat Maloney, who's department just buried a young fire fighter killed in the line of duty that morning, was moved to tears. It will be something all the team members will never forget. The whole team can't thank you enough Chris!

After the fountain show, everyone was re-energized for the rest of the run down LVB. LVMPD officers shut down all three lanes of the NB lanes for us - it was incredible and something in Las Vegas that I have never seen done before. All along the way people were excited to see us, cheering as we approached and then as we passed by. We arrived at the Fremont Street Experience at about 1245am. The canopy was darkened as we arrived as a group - then, within 30 seconds, the canopy lit up bright with "Tour Of Duty" images scrolling down one side and back the other! The images were from our start in Santa Monica, some group photo's, and large individual cameo images of all the runners! We ran two abreast under the canopy to Main Street and then back - running between the crowds of pedestrians cheering for us and slapping high fives, all while our images were above us and "Eye Of The Tiger" was playing as the music for the show! I can't tell you how amazing that was and how proud I was of Las Vegas that night.

With all the unbelievable events I described above, I was most honored by the support of my family and friends who were out there in the middle of the night sharing this with me. I don't want to mention you by name only because I don't want to miss anyone by mistake, but you all know who you are and know it means so much to me - I'll never forget it.

We head out from Las Vegas today at about noon. We'll be going east on Cheyenne from NLVFD station 53 (Gowan/Simmons) and then south on Nellis to Boulder Hwy to US95 where we will head out of town to Laughlin by midnight. I'll try to keep this Blog updated as often as I can.