THANK YOU, FIRST RESPONDERS — The Great American Relay in honor of first responders and in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 involved several local legs as part of the coast-to-coast, 3,500-mile run from Boston to Santa Monica, Calif., where it will end on Oct. 19. Overall, there are 418 stages of the relay, one of which began at the Steubenville Fire Department North Street Station, left photo. Awaiting the hand-off from local runners Bruce Harris and Michael Moran coming from Hanover, Pa., were, from left, Capt. David L. Sullivan; runners Megan Evans, Janice Kiaski, Melanie Wherry Owen, who ran a leg from Bloomingdale to Cadiz, and Shawna Solmen; and firefighters Capt. Chris Blackburn and Assistant Chief Chris Takach.

The unplanned and the unexpected often make the planned and the expected sweeter yet, better still.

Case in point. Monday, Sept. 20, brought the Great American Relay through the area with several legs of the 3,500-mile coast-to-coast run from Boston to Santa Monica, Calif., involving seven area participants — Megan Evans, Shawna Solmen, Bruce Harris, Michael Moran, Annie Hilty Wolfe, Melanie Wherry Owen and yours truly.

The relay in appreciation of first responders was organized by Vince Varallo, who lives outside Philadelphia and founded the Boston Buddies Run Club. He is traveling the route of the relay that started on Sept. 11 and ends Oct. 19 and is commemorating the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It’s also raising funds for three charities — the Green Beret Foundation; C.O.P.S., an acronym for Concerns of Police Survivors; and the Firefighter Five Foundation.

The Steubenville Fire Department North Street Station was the starting point for Megan, Shawna and me to run from there to Wintersville United Methodist Church.

We were waiting for Bruce and Michael, who were running from Hanover (Pa.) Fire Department to connect with us.

The fire department made this beginning so special not only with a vehicle escort up Washington Street Hill but also by playing the theme song from “Rocky” for inspiration. Yo Adrian!

Add to that Capt. David L. Sullivan donning full firefighters gear and carrying the flag as he ran with us to the top of the hill. That was so cool!

Thank you to him; to Assistant Chief Chris Takach who drove the vehicle; and to Assistant Chief Joe Ribar for his help when initially approached about the possibility of an escort and being so gracious to make that happen.

Otherwise, we would have had to take an alternative route — up the Washington Street sidewalk that’s OK, but it’s interrupted by three steep flights of stairs, 67 steps in all. Not exactly fun.

Before you get going on a run, there’s a lot of nervous energy to be sure. Megan and I had already laughed about the weird night-before dreams you tend to have — that you’re late for the race and then realize you’re wearing high heels, not tennis shoes, and they don’t even match! And in a major panic, you’re running through people’s homes trying to find the starting line. Not a good feeling. Help!

What was an unexpected good feeling, though, was seeing retired teacher Julie Blanton showing up to wish us well and then down the street toward us walked Sister Agnes Therese Davis of the Franciscan Sisters T.O.R., wondering what’s going on here. Is this a local running club or something?

We had a chance to chat about what we were doing, and she led us in prayer before commenting, “I usually walk to Mass in the mornings, but I don’t usually go to Mass here (meaning St. Peter’s) on Monday, so this was the Holy Spirit.” We weren’t inclined to argue that.

Just when I thought one more pit stop might be in order, too late, honey. Show time. Bruce and Michael arrived, and off we went on what was a beautiful morning. Perfect weather. We arrived at Wintersville UMC where Wintersville Fire and Rescue was represented by Lt. Tye Levi and firefighter Clay Gilliam.

Now it was Annie’s turn for her leg of the relay that ended at the Bloomingdale Post Office.

In a show of support, Annie’s mother, Linda Hilty, rode a while behind her on a bicycle. Annie’s brother, Eric Hilty, joined in on the last two miles of her 7.9-mile run.

Annie connected with Melanie, who took off for the Clifford Fire Station in Cadiz. Annie kept Melanie company on the final 2.5 miles of her 11.6-mile leg.

The horn-honking support overall along the way was appreciated, all part of a unique experience for 2021.

It was great to be a small part of something bigger and involving more than 900 runners overall.

(Kiaski, a resident of Richmond, is a staff columnist and community editor for the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times. She can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com.)