Roswell Resident Runs 260 Mile Relay this Weekend

This morning Roswell resident Mike Buteau will lace up his running shoes and hit the pavement like he does most days, only this time he’ll just keep running – all the way from Columbus to Savannah, Georgia.

Well, to be completely fair, Buteau won’t run the 260.7 miles entirely on his own; he’ll have the help of seven other runners who are also on his Run for the Heroes relay team, which is raising money to repair the homes of veterans facing difficulties.

“I am always looking for a new adventure,” Buteau, a sports reporter for Bloomberg News, told Roswell Patch of why he decided to race.

He first learned of the opportunity on Twitter, of all places. A friend tweeted a request for people to join his team and Buteau jumped at the chance, after clearing it with is wife, Emily, of course.

The race is not something completely outside of Buteau’s comfort zone, however. Admittedly, he said he’s “always training for something.”

“I swim, bike or run five or six days per week, averaging about 110 miles per week, with all three combined,” he said, noting that he grew up playing hockey and plans to enter his first IronMan Triathlon in November.

According to Buteau, the Run for the Heroes relay begins at 6 a.m. this morning, Saturday, May 28, in Fort Benning. Seventeen teams, with members from all over the state, will run the 260.7 miles to Savannah. To make the approximately 33-hour race manageable, the relay is broken up into 48 legs. That averages out to six legs per runner. Each leg ranges in distance, from the shortest leg of 2.7 miles to the longest leg of 8.2 miles.

“I will run a total of 34.5 miles,” said Buteau.

A welcoming party is set to meet Buteau’s team, “Fun Fun 1S,” in Savannah at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 29.

“This is a best-case scenario, of course,” he said. “Who knows what can happen while on the road.”

So why would Buteau choose to spend a holiday weekend stretching himself to the limit? The answer is twofold.

First, he hopes to motivate his children, Kyle, 11, and Alicia, 7.

“My wife, whom I met while in high school in New Jersey, knows I'm crazy, so this is nothing new to her,” he said. But, “I'd like to think I'm inspiring my son and daughter to live a healthy, active lifestyle and realize that anything is possible if you really put your mind to it.”

Secondly, he’ll be running for a great cause.

The unique Memorial Day Weekend race benefits House of Heroes, a non-profit organization that serves the families of military and public safety veterans who are disabled and living on a fixed income, or facing other challenges. Volunteers for the organization perform minor repairs and make improvements to the veteran’s homes at no cost to them.

But that requires House of Heroes to raise money to cover the costs.

The hope is the relay will raise $75,000 toward making needed repairs. As of 1 p.m. on Friday, the event had raised $60,209.

You can donate to Buteau’s team, “Fun Fun 1S,” and help the cause online.