OCEAN CITY — Late afternoon thunderstorms Thursday couldn’t deter the Run For The Fallen from paying tribute to those members of the United States military who died during wars of the past two decades.
About 10 members of the military team ran and rode, when dangerous thunderstorms threatened their safety, to the Ocean City Fishing Club pier at Boardwalk and 14th Street to remember those who gave their all.
The run started in Cape May Point this morning, and wound through Cape May City, Lower Township, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Avalon and Sea Isle City, before ending at the OCFC pier at about 5 p.m.
There, the run team paid tribute to CW2 Nicholas P. DiMona II, and his son, SPC Nicholas P. DiMona III, both of whom died in service to their country. Family members who attended the brief ceremony marking their relatives’ sacrifice greeted the runners who participated in the four-day event, now in its 13th year.
The run will continue Friday through Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean and Monmouth counties, where it will end at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdel on Sunday, September 26.
Each mile of the run is dedicated to a New Jersey service member who died in support of the global war on terror over the past 20 years, and their families. The run team stops at each Hero Marker on each mile to make a presentation to waiting family members, friends and comrades. The goal is the create an approximately 195-mile Memorial Trail throughout the state.
American Legion Post #524 on West Avenue will host dinner for the run team tonight, fortifying them restarting their remembrance journey in the morning.
