Runners volunteer to carry Great American Relay baton through Westmoreland County

Runners are relaying a baton in support of emergency first responders.

The Great American Relay is heading through Westmoreland County on Monday, and Amanda Sage is putting down her flute to carry the baton from Irwin to Adamsburg.

“My family is military, and I feel drawn to that cause. I want to show my support for the emergency personnel who take care of us,” Sage, a musician by trade, said of her decision to join the relay. “It is meant to benefit the first responders.”

Sage is expected to be handed the baton at the Irwin Volunteer Fire Department at 1:53 p.m. Monday. Then she’ll run 3.7 miles and pass off to the next runner at the Adamsburg Fire Department, who will then run to Greensburg Hose Company No. 6.

“I am excited to be a part of this, and I hope others come out to show support,” she said.

The baton left Santa Monica, Calif., on Sept. 10 and is expected to be handed off 668 times and visit 490 firehouses before being carried to the site of the World Trade Center in New York City on Oct. 16.

The relay, running through 17 states and the District of Columbia, was coordinated on the Great American Relay Facebook page to show support and raise money for charities.

Runners can register at great americanrelay.com.

Sage, 37, of North Huntington said the event piqued her interest because the route she’ll run is within the distance she is comfortable with after taking up the exercise about 10 years ago.

“My doctor was telling me that I had to get my weight and eating habits under control or it was going to go downhill from there,” Sage said. “I also had neck pains, shoulder pains and other issues.”

Rather than deteriorating, she became determined. Sage said she dropped 50 pounds by making changes to her lifestyle, which often demands sitting for hours to practice her instrument. As a flutist, she plays in orchestras and and is an instructor at Seton Hill University.

“It often can be as bad as an office job, with the sitting,” she said. “It is a lot about the posture we have to have and sitting forward and the tendency to be sedentary.”