The Memorial Day 100 to begin in Albany

ALBANY — The Wounded Warrior Project has chosen Albany as the starting point of the sixth annual Memorial Day 100.

Thirty United States Marine veterans will begin the 115-mile relay marathon on Saturday, May 23, at 7 a.m. at the World War II Memorial located next to the New York State Museum on Madison Avenue in downtown Albany.

A dinner honoring the 30 Marines/runners will kick off the Memorial Day 100 on Friday, May 22, at Graney’s Stout Irish Pub & Restaurant on Broadway in Albany. This will be a fund-raising event with a silent auction, 50-50 drawing, as well as monetary donations to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

When leaving Albany early Saturday morning, the runners will take Route 9W South, ending at the Orange County Veterans Cemetery at Goshen. After a ceremony, the runners will gather at the Purple Heart Hall of Honor located at New Windsor. As in past years, the Memorial Day 100 will be completed in less than 24 hours.

The run will be a relay with two runners at a time carrying the Stars and Stripes and the Wounded Warrior Project flag. All the runners are Marine veterans of the 3rd Battalion, 25th regiment (3/25) who served in Iraq. During their 2005 deployment, the 3/25 lost 48 men, making this among the highest sacrifice of the Iraq War.

The Memorial Day 100 is in their honor.

Over the past five years, this event has raised more than $125,000. The run has gone from Richmond, Virginia to Washington, D.C.; Eastern Long Island to Ground Zero, in New York City; and from the original site of the Tun Tavern (birthplace of the Marine Corps) at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. to the Marine Corps Museum at Quanico, Virginia, which was the longest at 170 miles.

The Wounded Warrior Project’s mission is to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured service members aid each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.

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