Sorry about the late notice, but I'll be on CNN live today (Tuesday) on American Morning at 8:40am Eastern time- pretty sure it's live so that would be 7:40 central, etc. If you catch it, great! Hope you're all doing well!

We woke extra early today, and as I sat sipping coffee in the dark, it was really hard to fathom that today would be the last marathon of this trek. We got it all together though and made our way to the start which was at the MS welcome center (what an appropriate starting line!) just south of I-10. We arrived to see an amazing crew of people out there to cheer me on, see me off, and even run with me! Friends from Vicksburg, from my home church there, from Jackson, from Rhodes, from Bay St. Louis, and a few extras from here and there too. It was humbling to see such a crowd out there at 6am just to see me off. We had a great police escort the entire way- one car in front, one behind, plus a whole slough of support vehicles trailing along. The big BSL church truck was decked out with posterboard signs and streamers, and it was so great seeing such supportive people all along the way. At about the halfway point, we turned onto the Beach Blvd. and cruised on that for most of the second half. Just after the turn, I noticed two very familiar looking ladies on the right, and realized quickly that it was my Grandma and my Aunt Helen! They had surprised me with a trip all the way from their homes on the West Coast- WOW! I could hardly believe it! We just kept trucking along, not going for any speed records today, but just having a good time. We went through downtown Bay Saint Louis around mile 21, and there was an awesome crowd on both sides of the street cheering me on, which made it hard to leave them and crank out the last few miles, but wow what a feeling to see all these wonderful folks out. The last loop of miles went by quickly, and just as we turned onto Main St for the last stretch, Kirsten and I pulled away from the pack a little bit and went the last leg together. As we got closer I saw a huge mass of something at the end of the road by the beach, and as we got closer I finally realized it was a massive crowd of people at the finish line. The end was a blur, but I remember seeing wonderful signs like, "Welcome home Sam" and "BSL loves Sam" and things like that amidst near deafening cheers from all around. I crossed the finish line of this marathon of marathons, and was surrounded by friends and family from all over the place- it couldn't have been better. The mayor, Eddie Favre made a really nice presentation from the city, and I did my best to talk to as many people as I possibly could, but I know I wasn't able to talk with everyone unfortunately. It was all really very difficult to process- the idea of this being truly the last marathon of this adventure, but I couldn't have asked for better people around me at the end. We all went back to the church afterwards where we had a wonderful lunch and relaxed a bit. We eventually made our way back to New Orleans in the afternoon where we continued to relax and later had another wonderful celebratory meal. It was truly a perfect last day to this event. On Sunday Kirsten and I flew up o New York (starting to get deja vu coming to New York again), and will be on the Early Show on CBS tomorrow morning. Thank you all so very much for your wonderful support, prayers, and encouragement over the past 2 months- I could not have done it without you all! Please continue to keep the people of the Gulf Coast in your hearts and minds even now that this marathon journey has ended, and I hope this finds you and all your families well. Also, I will update the blog in the coming weeks as any other things happen, more upcoming media, etc. THANK YOU!!!!

There was a great crowd waiting at the Superdome when we arrived, mostly from the New Orleans Track Club, but also my awesome friends from Bay St. Louis were there who have been holding down the fort while I've been running- Lulu, Richard, and Scott, and also some friends from Rhodes- Danny, Pat, and Carl. Chuck, the head of NOTC, led the way through the course, and I had a a handful of awesome cycling escorts as well, plus Tony again who was braving traffic yet again to clear the way for me. For whatever reason I felt really good this morning and really hoped to run my fastest time yet today, then cruise in easy tomorrow in Bay St. Louis. As I knew it would get very hot very soon, I took off pretty quick, and was really cruising for quite a while. Tom from N.O. and his dog Thin ran with me for the first half, then broke off, but others picked up and I had company the whole way. As I ran the course, I saw vividly yet again that everything was far from fixed in the area. Parts of the course went through areas that were still totally deserted, the water line was still very visible on homes, and the still quiet was haunting. To see middle class homes where people just like you and me lived not long ago totally ruined and abandoned really does underline not only just how vulnerable each and every one of us is, but also how important it is for us to work together and help those that need our help so desperately. Cooking at a pace a good bit quicker than usual, I started to run out of gas around mile 16, but Kirsten kept packing gels and fluids in me and I kept pounding pavement. As I ran around Audobon Park, I was mentally not looking forward to turning around and retracing my footsteps as that was the course when I ran it 2 years ago, but when we hit what I thought was the turnaround, we kept cruising and my leaders told me that the course had changed and we only did one loop and then we were headed back. With that nice news, I kicked it up a notch once more and finished strong back at the Superdome, with a great crowd of friends, even another friend from the Vicksburg Wolf Pack, Terry. I did end up finishing this one, number 50 (because I threw in D.C.), in my fastest time of all of them- a 3:29, and it felt great. I got to catch up with friends a bit, then we headed back to our gracious host's house for the usual routine and even a luxurious nap. This was the first time in nearly 2 months we were staying in the same place on consecutive nights! I made it through the momentous last ice bath of this endeavour, as I didn't plan on doing one after the last one, as I knew I didn't have to run another marathon the next day. We rested well, then had an incredible dinner feast at my friend Michael's parents' home. It was so nice to just relax in a real home and eat wonderful food and enjoy conversation without the pressure of travel, etc. Full and happy, we went to bed again, looking forward to the big day tomorrow...

So sorry for the lack of an update for the past few days, but I'll do my best here on what I've missed starting with Dallas. We made it out to the American Airlines center in Dallas actually ahead of schedule Thursday morning, and parked in the north lot. We soon met up with a news crew that did an interview before, then followed throughout the day, and a few runners were there ready to go, but not many. Then we realized we were on the wrong side of the building, so we drove over to the correct side and found Marcus, the race director, and a whole crew of folks from LGRAW, a running club just outside Dallas that I was part of when I lived in Plano. It was great to see such a crowd, and with the temperature already way up there even without the sun yet, we got going without too many pleasantries. Marcus was fantastic- he led us through the entire course flawlessly, and blocked traffic whenever necessary. Tony was awesome on his bike too- like he had been leading runners and blocking traffic his entire life. A fresh crew of local runners jumped in around mile 7, and ran a good bit with me- always makes me feel more and more like Forrest Gump when people jump in mid-run like that. We cruised around White Rock Lake, and fortunately had great shade most of the way. I kept my pace pretty steady and finished up strong right back where I started at the American Airlines Center, with a great crowd of folks there to cheer me on from Rhodes (they had set up an awesome water stop complete with donuts in the middle of the race, but I unfortunately had to pass it by), from the RAW running club, and a few others too. The race director gave me a finisher's medal and shirt and all kinds of stuff, and I got to eat a few of the donuts I'd missed earlier, then we were back to Tony's house for the usual routine. Tony decided to go ahead and drive the long trek to New Orleans with us then as well, so he loaded up his and his wife Maude's bikes and our caravan was off. This was our longest drive in quite a while, and we didn't make it into town until about 11pm, but were staying with another friend's aunt, who graciously hosted us and waited up for us to get in. We had a great sleep and were off and going again in the morning....

AWESOME run today in Dallas, TX, but more on that later this evening.  Just wanted to post that tomorrow and Saturday's marathons will begin at 6am for anyone wanting to come out!  I'd love to have you!  Tomorrow in New Orleans starts/finishes by the Superdome, and Saturday in Bay St. Louis I'm not exactly sure where it starts but I will post the start/finish tonight.  6am starts though for sure.  Thanks so much everyone, and more to come later!