Event coordinator Johnny Cobb launched the annual event to honor his late father, an Iwo Jima survivor. Cobb said his father’s stories of the brutal 1945 battle — and the slim odds of surviving it — made a lasting impression. “One in three Marines was killed or wounded,” he said. “Anyone who came off that island and survived was a miracle.”

The run starts and ends in the Texas Amphitheater parking lot, across from the Mack Dick Pavilion. From there, teams follow the CCC Trail to the top of the canyon, carrying the American flag along a steep, rugged path. At the summit, they replace the flag flying above the amphitheater with the one they carried, then descend together. Cobb said the demanding climb is a fitting tribute to the harsh terrain Marines faced on Iwo Jima, where Japanese forces

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