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(Photos by Rosie Gochnour)
More than 28,000 people stood in complete silence as the national anthem roared from a trumpet outside Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday to commemorate the Arizona native and fallen soldier Pat Tillman.“The national anthem started to play and everyone stopped. You could see a sea of people just standing in respect for our country,” said 36-year-old Scottsdale resident Angel Hollingsworth. “That was the most motivating part of the day for me.”
Saturday marked the 7th annual Pat’s Run, a 4.2 mile run and walk held at Sun Devil Stadium to honor, Pat Tillman, a former football player who was killed serving in Afghanistan in 2004.
Tillman represented ASU as No. 42 on the football team before playing for the Arizona Cardinals. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Tillman ended his football career to enlist in the United States Army. Tillman died in a friendly fire incident in 2004.
“Pat’s story resonates so strongly because it’s a story of a true American who puts others before themselves and has a selfless nature,” said Hunter Riley, director of programs at the Pat Tillman Foundation. “His sacrifice: there’s nothing truer than that.”
This commemorative and emotional event has grown immensely since the first Pat’s Run in 2005, which had about 5,000 participants.
“Pat’s Run is more of a community run; you get all different types of people out here,” Hollingsworth said. “It’s people helping people.”
Participation was capped at 28,000 this year in order to have enough space for all of the participants in the run around Tempe. The event drew in more than 32,000 people when participants, volunteers, children racers, race staff and spectators are included.
Each year the event brings participants with stories of their own to motivate themselves to walk or run the symbolic 4.2 miles. Each participant had a different motive behind registering to either run or walk.
Phoenix resident Heather Brundage, 33, wanted to motivate herself to lose weight from childbirth, and found that the 4.2-mile distance would push her stamina. Knowing that it’s a “great cause” made it more worthwhile, she said.
“I was really pumped up, especially when driving in. You see everyone here, you see all of the Pat’s jerseys and all of the military — it was all really great,” Brundage said.
Tillman’s story and legacy encouraged many to participate who had similar situations.
The fiancé of Phoenix resident Stacey Bales, both big fans of Tillman, died just a day before the run’s registration closed.
“It was a very moving day, and I’m so glad that we did it,” Bale said. “We are going to continue to do it in his honor.”
Reach the reporter at ctetreau@asu.edu
