Team Red, White and Blue

Running has done more than keep Mike McElmeel fit.

It has offered the Army veteran a way to reconnect with his community and raise funds to support fellow veterans.

'When I came back to Iowa, I didn't know anybody,” said McElmeel, who returned to Cedar Rapids after a 22-year career with the military. 'I went to work, I came home and went out with my family. Then I started running with people and now those people are my friends.”

McElmeel, who was a Green Beret and retired as a Master Sergeant in 2004, runs marathons and ultra runs, races that go well beyond the traditional 26.2 miles of a marathon.

He runs for fun, a personal challenge and later this month for his fellow veterans.

McElmeel is the Cedar Rapids Iowa City Chapter president of Team Red, White and Blue, an organization that connects veterans with their community through various physical and social activities.

For the past 16 weeks, McElmeel has been training to run the Black Hills 100 mile ultra run in South Dakota from June 27 to 29. Through his participation in the race, he is raising funds to benefit the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a non-profit that works to provide a college education for children of Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps special operations personnel who died in the line of duty or during a training exercise.

'These are my people and their kids,” McElmeel said. 'They also make it very easy to donate, I don't touch anything.”

This year, McElmeel's goal is to raise $2,000 for the charity and as of June 11, he had raised $1,275. Donate at the FirstGiving website.

The ultra run will take him anywhere from 26 to 29 hours to complete. His personal record on a race of this length is 29 hours.

The Eastern Iowa chapter of Team Red, White and Blue, formed a year ago, was the first in the state. There's now one in Des Moines as well.

'We're just trying to expand our reach and get more people to be involved,” said McElmeel. 'We just want to get vets active and get them connected with the community.”

Members don't have to be veterans. The Eastern Iowa chapter is about half and half. They don't have to be physically active either.

'Some might not be able to run or hike, but they still want to get involved,” said member Brian Tharp, who is not a veteran. His grandfather served during World War II.

Currently the organization participates in a lot of running events, but is looking to expand its activities, including some that will appeal to disabled veterans.