For the last four years, Florida State University cross country coach Bob Braman has organized a 126-mile relay run across the state of Florida to raise money for charity and to build a stronger bond among the men and women on his team.

The trek from Crystal River, Florida, on the Gulf Coast side of the state to Daytona Beach on the Atlantic Coast took on special meaning this time because of four names: Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.

Those are the hurricanes that wreaked havoc on Florida in recent weeks, and are the reason the Seminoles' runners decided the money raised this fall will be sent to the Red Cross to help give relief to the hurricane victims.

"I've always left it up to the athletes as to what charity the money will go to," Braman said. "When I asked them who they wanted to give it to, we were only one hurricane into the season. Not four. It wasn't as obvious to the public when we chose the money to go for this, six weeks ago."

Last year, the Seminoles raised $5,000, which was donated to the United Way. The student-athletes had until October 10 to see if they could reach their goal of $10,000 to donate to the Red Cross.

It's an issue close to the hearts of the Florida State cross country team, since the majority of the runners are from Florida. Katie Puckett and Chris Nickinson, who both grew up in Pensacola, were both impacted by Hurricane Ivan, which struck their hometown.

"My family was really lucky," said Nickinson, a redshirt freshman. "We didn't have any damage to my house or any of my relatives' homes. But I've been back and some neighborhoods and streets are unrecognizable. It wasn't what you'd expect to see in a town where you grew up your entire life.''

Nickinson returned to Pensacola a couple of days after Ivan reached land on September 16, to attend his brother's wedding. Despite not having any power, the indoor ceremony took place.

Puckett wasn't able to participate in the relay with her teammates, because she wanted to return home to help out in any way she could. Her parents' home was damaged by the storm. She also had an aunt who had the roof of her home blown off with the inside flooded by the torrential rain. Her parents went 12 days without electricity.

"My roommate and I loaded up a car to get there,'' Puckett said. "It took us almost seven hours for what normally is a two-hour trip. We just delivered stuff to everyone we could. We stopped a couple of times because my family and friends were calling and asking us to stop at Wal-Mart to get things. When we got off the interstate we were probably six miles from the exit I normally take to go home. It took us about three hours from there. People were walking faster than the cars were moving.''

With personal stories such as these on the team, it put more meaning into Braman's annual team-building exercise that begins by dipping a water bottle into the Gulf of Mexico and filling it halfway.

Two members of the team begin running while the rest of the runners pile into five vans. Braman stops the lead van to give the runners their mile-split times. When one pair of runners finish their designated leg of the journey, they are quickly replaced by two more runners, and the water bottle is quickly passed off like a baton.

"It's pretty much like watching a NASCAR pit stop,'' Nickinson said.

When they reach the sand in Daytona, they dip the bottle into the Atlantic Ocean to fill up the other half with water. It took the Seminoles 12 hours and 44 minutes to complete the 126 miles over the back roads on two-lane highways across the state.

"I coached the University of South Florida for 17 years and we did the event probably six or seven times as a fund-raiser for the program to buy uniforms and shoes," said Braman, who is in his fourth year in Tallahassee. "I've probably done this a dozen times between my two programs and the Tampa Bay Runners' Club."

Since none of the students are allowed to drive, they have a lot of free time in the vans. It's spent sleeping, watching movies on a laptop, listening to music or even a little homework.

"While we're doing it, it's an interesting process," Nickinson said. "We're out running on the road. We're running with a water bottle but you can't drink from it, because it's full of salt water. Then you have a couple of vans around you and cars are passing you on the left side of the road. We run on these tiny little country roads and last year we got pulled over by the police, because they didn't know what was going on."

Running for a cause that has affected so many people could help the team reach the goal of doubling the amount raised in the 2003.

"I found this year to be a lot easier than last year," Puckett said. "This is something so close to home with people in Florida. When you told anyone what you were doing, they all wanted to help.''