Highland County woman invites community to support ‘Flag Run Fridays’
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Car horns and cheers of support could be heard on US 62 in Hillsboro on Friday morning when a Highland County woman carried an American flag on her shoulders and ran along High Street.
Marissa Ayres said that she was inspired by her friend Blake Bethel, who lives in Toledo and came up with the idea for “Flag Run Fridays.” He started the event in Toledo several weeks ago, and Ayres decided to try the event in Highland County Friday morning
“It’s to show that the flag is a symbol of unity for Americans,” Ayres said. “Forget race, forget your political views, all of that. None of that matters. We’re just Americans and the flag unites us, and we’re supposed to support each other.”
Ayres said that Bethel described his mission as follows:
“This is about uniting us as Americans. Our goal here is to be as neutral as possible and to get everyone to understand that we might have differences, but we’re all Americans and can look at the flag as a symbol of unity.”
Ayres, who borrowed her grandmother’s flag for her run, said running about four miles through Hillsboro was fun, but challenging, as she ran from Walgreens to Holtfield Station and back.
“I noticed a whole bunch of people on High Street have flags, so I liked that,” Ayres said. “I was tired, but it was a good feeling.”
Everyone Ayres encountered on Friday morning was “super supportive.”
“People were honking their horns and giving me a thumbs up,” Ayres said. “There were a lot of semis and bigger trucks that were doing that. There were also guys on a roof working, and they all stopped and cheered as I went by. That made my day.”
Ayres said that she and Bethel have both started out running individually in their respective hometowns, but they hope to gain the support of more runners.
“He’s running in Toledo this evening, and he has five people running with him,” Ayres said.
Anyone in the community who would like to support this mission is welcome to attend. To show neutrality, Ayres said that participants are asked to wear “plain workout clothes and don’t show that you’re affiliated with any organization.”
There are no set rules on where to run or how far to run, Ayres said. Ayres also encouraged people to try it on their own if they don’t want to run in a group.
“I’m just doing this to bring people together,” Ayres said. “Anybody and everybody. If you can’t run and want to do it, you can walk. You can do it on your own on Fridays.
“I did this by myself today, and there’s not a certain distance … you just run until you’re tired. People are more than welcome to do their own, say if I go in the morning and someone wants to run in the evening with a flag.”
Ayres said that she or Bethel can be contacted on Facebook or on Instagram for more information about the flag run or to find out how to participate. Ayres hopes she and Bethel will eventually get enough supporters to meet between Toledo and Hillsboro.
“For now, I’m going to do them in Highland County, but if there’s more people, I’m open to suggestions,” Ayres said. “We talked about maybe Dayton or like a bigger city, once more people catch on.
“I’ve thought about if people pick this up and it gets really big, we could probably meet in the middle and do something in Columbus. That would be awesome.”
Ayres encouraged anyone participating on their own to post about their experience on social media with the hashtag “flagrunfriday.”
“Just post it and what you think about it,” Ayres said.
Next Friday, Ayres said that she plans to run in Hillsboro again. If other runners would like to participate, she said the group can meet in a central location and run through the middle of town together.
“We’re going to try it every Friday and just bring people together,” Ayres said. “We don’t care what kind of shape you’re in. We don’t care what you look like. We just want to be Americans and just unite everybody again."
Marissa Ayres said that she was inspired by her friend Blake Bethel, who lives in Toledo and came up with the idea for “Flag Run Fridays.” He started the event in Toledo several weeks ago, and Ayres decided to try the event in Highland County Friday morning
“It’s to show that the flag is a symbol of unity for Americans,” Ayres said. “Forget race, forget your political views, all of that. None of that matters. We’re just Americans and the flag unites us, and we’re supposed to support each other.”
Ayres said that Bethel described his mission as follows:
“This is about uniting us as Americans. Our goal here is to be as neutral as possible and to get everyone to understand that we might have differences, but we’re all Americans and can look at the flag as a symbol of unity.”
Ayres, who borrowed her grandmother’s flag for her run, said running about four miles through Hillsboro was fun, but challenging, as she ran from Walgreens to Holtfield Station and back.
“I noticed a whole bunch of people on High Street have flags, so I liked that,” Ayres said. “I was tired, but it was a good feeling.”
Everyone Ayres encountered on Friday morning was “super supportive.”
“People were honking their horns and giving me a thumbs up,” Ayres said. “There were a lot of semis and bigger trucks that were doing that. There were also guys on a roof working, and they all stopped and cheered as I went by. That made my day.”
Ayres said that she and Bethel have both started out running individually in their respective hometowns, but they hope to gain the support of more runners.
“He’s running in Toledo this evening, and he has five people running with him,” Ayres said.
Anyone in the community who would like to support this mission is welcome to attend. To show neutrality, Ayres said that participants are asked to wear “plain workout clothes and don’t show that you’re affiliated with any organization.”
There are no set rules on where to run or how far to run, Ayres said. Ayres also encouraged people to try it on their own if they don’t want to run in a group.
“I’m just doing this to bring people together,” Ayres said. “Anybody and everybody. If you can’t run and want to do it, you can walk. You can do it on your own on Fridays.
“I did this by myself today, and there’s not a certain distance … you just run until you’re tired. People are more than welcome to do their own, say if I go in the morning and someone wants to run in the evening with a flag.”
Ayres said that she or Bethel can be contacted on Facebook or on Instagram for more information about the flag run or to find out how to participate. Ayres hopes she and Bethel will eventually get enough supporters to meet between Toledo and Hillsboro.
“For now, I’m going to do them in Highland County, but if there’s more people, I’m open to suggestions,” Ayres said. “We talked about maybe Dayton or like a bigger city, once more people catch on.
“I’ve thought about if people pick this up and it gets really big, we could probably meet in the middle and do something in Columbus. That would be awesome.”
Ayres encouraged anyone participating on their own to post about their experience on social media with the hashtag “flagrunfriday.”
“Just post it and what you think about it,” Ayres said.
Next Friday, Ayres said that she plans to run in Hillsboro again. If other runners would like to participate, she said the group can meet in a central location and run through the middle of town together.
“We’re going to try it every Friday and just bring people together,” Ayres said. “We don’t care what kind of shape you’re in. We don’t care what you look like. We just want to be Americans and just unite everybody again."