The Carry the Load National Relay reached Texarkana on Wednesday, making it a whole lot closer to their destination in Dallas.
"It was exciting to make it to Texas," said Matthew Reid, leg captain for Carry the Load.
The group's relay is a 24/7 walk spanning from West Point, N.Y., to Seattle, Wash., with two groups working their way from each coast to meet in Dallas this weekend.
The focus of the nonprofit organization is honoring the nation's military, law enforcement, firefighters and first responders and encouraging all Americans to remember the original meaning of Memorial Day. The groups pick up people in each town they stop in who want to participate for a few miles.
"We have people walk with us for a few miles everywhere we go. We get lots of first responders and people who have family in the military. This is designed so the average mother who may have lost her son can come out and honor him five miles at a time," Reid said.
The city of Texarkana, Texas, hosted the event and has hosted the East Coast team since the relay began in 2012.
Texarkana's leg of the relay started at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Parks and Recreation Department's Southwest Center at 3222 W. Seventh St. Participants then walked 5.25 miles to O.T.'s Landing, 8490 W. Seventh St. The groups bike at night to help make good time and because fewer people join them at night, Reid said.
The group was escorted by local Texas Game Wardens in Texarkana.
"We have had game wardens escorting us nearly our entire route," Reid said.
Reid said the event has gone smoothly this year.
"We have had really good weather for the most part. We have missed a lot of storms. And we have had really good participation. People have come out in droves to do this with us," he said.
For more information about Carry the Load, visit carrytheload.org.