PURCELLVILLE, Va. A single American flag that left San Francisco three weeks ago is set to move through western Loudoun County on Friday morning, July 3, as the Relay For America makes its final approach to Washington ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday.
The flag is scheduled to travel the main road through Round Hill, Purcellville and Hamilton, and residents are being invited to line the route and cheer the runners as they pass.
A Coast-to-Coast Relay
Relay For America is a nonstop, 3,016-mile relay carrying one American flag from San Francisco to Washington. According to organizers, 250 runners are covering the route in segments, 24 hours a day, across 15 states over 20 days. The flag left the Golden Gate Bridge on June 14 and is scheduled to arrive at the National Mall on July 4, timed to the Independence Day fireworks marking America’s 250th anniversary.
The event was created by endurance runners Joe Nail and Wyatt Moss, who met in 2024 while each pursued the goal of running a marathon in all 50 states. Rather than rely on a single runner, they opened the effort to hundreds of participants and called it the “People’s Relay,” with a stated mission of “uniting Americans one mile at a time.”
Every mile is dedicated to a veteran. Organizers say 3,000 veterans were nominated to be honored along the route, with each name carried alongside the flag. More than 1,100 runners applied to take part, over 300 volunteers signed on to crew the relay and participants came from 46 states, according to organizers. The relay is run entirely by volunteers, with runners covering their own gas and meals and lodging arranged through host families and motels.
The Route Through Western Loudoun
The flag is expected to be handed off near Bears Den, on Route 7 atop the Blue Ridge, at around 9 a.m. Friday, according to a post shared in the Western Loudoun Community Connect group by Jen Welch Lackey, whose daughter, a 2024 Loudoun Valley High School graduate, is among the runners.
From there, runners will head east on Route 7, turn left after More Better onto West Loudoun Street and continue on that road as it changes names, running straight through Round Hill, Purcellville and Hamilton. The leg covers 12.5 miles and ends at Scott Jenkins Park, past Hamilton. To stay on schedule, runners are aiming for a 9:20 per mile pace to finish the segment in about two hours.
Residents hoping to catch the flag downtown can expect the runners along Main Street in Purcellville in the mid-to-late morning, though the times are estimates and can shift with the runners’ pace and the heat.
How to Follow the Flag
The relay’s location can be tracked in real time at relayforamerica.org, where organizers post live estimates for when the flag will reach each point along the route.
