"Run to Vote," a voting drive run by teachers and students from Granville Central High School in Stem, N.C., set up outside Fleet Feet Sports near the bridge.

They weren't flashing signs for Barack Obama or John McCain, talking about who has more foreign policy experience or the wisdom of expanded offshore drilling. For that matter, most of them aren't even going to have a choice in November.

Their question to each passerby was simply: "Are you registered to vote?"

The team of two teachers and four students has been on the road for almost two months and was on schedule to visit the entire continental United States. Maryland marked the 47th state on their itinerary, and the tour will wrap-up with stops in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

This isn't the first time Jonathan Williams, a civics, economics and history teacher at Granville, has been across the U.S., as he once ran from Newport Beach, Calif., to Newport, R.I.

But when he brainstormed for a new trip, another Granville teacher on the trek, Diane Hineline, suggested he take students along.

And running still is a part of it. For every person who registers to vote or pledges to vote, someone on the team will run a quarter of a mile.

"This is (the students') way to influence," he said. "This is kind of a way to show … you still have a voice."

It was a theme that registered with Jordan Rank, a 16-year-old who one day wants to join the U.S. Coast Guard. Even though he is too young to vote, he can make sure other people do.

"This election is extremely important," he said.

So far on the trip, the group has signed up 400 people to vote and had between 5,000 and 6,000 people sign a banner pledging they will come out on Election Day.

But sometimes politics has taken a back seat to traveling all over the country and meeting people.

"It really showed me everybody is the same no matter where you go," said 16-year-old Ian Morris. "Cultural lines are made bigger than they really are."

But Ian knew the signatures will mean something more in a few months.

"(The election) affects everything else," he said. "That effects how people are treated, quality of life."