Isn't that

a difficult journey for a 13-year-old? The family consulted Patrick Shane,

who is the cousin of Stokes' father. Shane coaches the NCAA national champion

Brigham Young University women's cross-country team.

"I was

thinking about running a 10K distance everyday, along the way," said

Stokes. "Coach Shane said that was a lot of miles to run for someone

my age. He recommended that I only run that far each day and no more.

He said I could run a few miles in the morning, then a few more miles

mid-day and then finish it up later on in the afternoon so I don't hurt

myself."

Stokes has

a future goal of improving each year so she can get a scholarship to run

at college and be good enough for the Olympics someday.

This past summer

she traveled to Scotland to compete in the Scottish Highland Games in

the 800M. She also competed in a cross-country race near London in January

2001 and took second in her age division at the Deseret News/Granite Furniture

10K race in Salt Lake City last July.

Stokes is a

member of the Peachtree City Running Club. She competes for the Peachtree

City Flash Youth Track Team in Georgia and also runs with the Atlanta

Track Club.

She runs a

5:40 mile, 2:35 800M and a 49 minute 10K. Her goal is to lower each of

those times this year as she is running about 20-25 miles a week on her

way toward 1,000 miles and the July Pioneer Trail Trek.

Stokes begins

her westward run this July from the banks of the Mississippi River near

Nauvoo, Illinois. The Trail crosses Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and into Salt

Lake City, Utah. Her father will follow Rebecca while she runs using a

new Yamaha sponsored Golf Cart and when she is not running, both will

travel about 12 hours a day on the cart.

They plan to

arrive in Salt Lake on July 21 so Stokes can get ready for her last 10K

of the trip which starts at 6:15am on July 24. It is the big founders

day race in Utah commemorating the day the original pioneers arrived in

the Salt Lake Valley, 1847.

After that

race these "modern pioneers" will load up there cart and weary

bones and journey