Vicksburg’s Thompson cruises into Bay St. Louis after 50-state journey for Hurricane Katrina relief.

BAY ST. LOUIS – Sam Thompson rounded the last turn of his epic journey across America Saturday morning and could barely believe his eyes.

There, waiting for him at the end of Bay St. Louis’ Main Street with balloons and handmade signs, were nearly 200 friends, family and well-wishers.

&#8220I was coming down Main Street and saw this mass of people and wondered what was going on. I thought, ‘They can’t be here for me, can they?’” Thompson said.

But they were.

They had come from as far away as Thompson’s hometown of Vicksburg, nearly 200 miles north, to welcome home their friend and celebrate a feat of human endurance.

Thompson finished his 51st marathon in 50 days, and in the 50th different state when he ran 27.33 miles from the outskirts of Bay St. Louis to the hurricane-ravaged city’s downtown. Although a marathon is only 26.2 miles, the course that was laid out for Thompson by a member of his support crew was a little longer.

Thompson didn’t mind.

&#8220I don’t care,” he said and smiled. &#8220At least this way, nobody can dispute it.”

Thompson’s quest started in Leadville, Colo., on July 1 and took him to the four corners of the country over the last seven weeks. He saved his last two runs for New Orleans and Bay St. Louis, two of the cities hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the focus of another herculean effort by Thompson since then.

A few days after the storm, he went to Bay St. Louis as part of a relief team with the First Presbyterian Church. He’s been there since, gutting some houses and helping restore others. He is a supervisor for the church’s relief work there, and oversees as many as 100 volunteers a week.

&#8220He’s been doing things like that his whole life,” said Michelle Howell, who made the trip from Vicksburg with her husband, Gary, to see Thompson’s last marathon. The Howells’ son, Duncan, roomed with Thompson at Rhodes College in Memphis, and Michelle Howell said the two families have been close for years.

Despite the efforts of thousands of volunteers over the past year, Thompson felt the country’s attention has been shifting away from the ruins on the Gulf Coast. So he decided to do something about it.

Each year since 2003, Thompson has gone on one long trek to test his endurance. One year, he ran the length of the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail. The next, he biked from the Canadian border to Mexico. The following year, he took up ultramarathons – races of 100 miles or more.

His idea for this summer was &#8220The 50 in 50 in 50 Run For Hope,” his plan to run 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states while bringing the country’s attention back to the areas devastated by Katrina. Along the way, he’s done numerous interviews with television stations and newspapers around the country to raise awareness – and, hopefully, money – for Katrina victims. On Monday morning, Thompson will appear on CBS’ &#8220The Early Show.”

Bridget Maurigi, a facility manager for the First Presbyterian Church of Bay St. Louis and a crew chief for the church’s relief efforts, said the plan has been working.

&#8220We’ve been getting lots of mail, and that means lots of checks. And lots of e-mail, which means people volunteering,” Maurigi said.

So, after a year of planning and seven weeks of running 26 miles a day, Thompson returned to the outskirts of Bay St. Louis around 6 Saturday morning.

Joined by a pair of police cars from Bay St. Louis and neighboring Waveland, a half-dozen support vehicles and more than a dozen friends who ran all or part of the way with him, Thompson slowly made his way toward downtown.

Starting on a highway about 18 miles outside the city, Thompson ran past a seemingly never-ending backdrop of snapped trees, FEMA trailers, storm debris and abandoned homes. The course took him along the beach for a little bit and then into Bay St. Louis itself, where he was met by a throng of people who waved and cheered him on from the sidewalk.

&#8220It was a little hard to go away from the people and run the last six miles,” he said.

March on he did, though, with adrenaline taking up the slack for whatever fatigue he might have felt. A few minutes after he ran down the last half mile of Main Street to finish the run in 4 hours and 19 minutes, he was barely breathing hard and chatting it up with well-wishers.

&#8220It was just a rush. Even now it’s hard to believe it’s over. It doesn’t feel like I just ran 51 marathons in 50 days,” Thompson said. &#8220Seeing all these folks here is incredible. It’s hard to process this.”

Some people in the crowd asked Thompson what his next feat will be. He wasn’t sure about next year, but said he plans to run another marathon in a few weeks &#8220just to see how fast I can go,” and would like to do a 100-mile race before the end of the year.

He did give a more immediate answer to one person, however. When a fan asked what he’ll do tomorrow, Thompson said with a laugh, &#8220Fifty naps. In one day. In one state.”