The 4-mile run was all about hearts, pride and shields.

"It's the magical type of stuff that brings a unit together," Col. Louis Zeisman said early this morning before leading 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division on its first unit run - The Lancer Brigade Run - since returning from Afghanistan.

"This is about unit pride, cohesion and motivation in soldiers.  It's about what I like to call the ‘hearts behind the shields.'"

The brigade could not have ordered more perfect weather for the run.

The mercury sat south of 65 degrees, and the clouds were at street level wrapping everything in a cool fog.

Family members, friends and a Jack Russell Terrier named Sprocket lined 32nd Division Drive and cheered as each battalion - colors flying - passed by.

"You can just feel the spirit here, you can just feel it," Gyen Nielsen, wife of Lt. Col. Shannon Nielsen, commander, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, emphasized as she yelled encouragement to the running soldiers.

"This run is about our pride and sense of team spirit.  And there's nothing better than that."