More than 13,000 Runners Finish Virtual Pat's Run
Saturday marked the 16th annual Pat’s Run, a four-point-two mile race in honor of Sun Devil and Cardinals safety Pat Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004.
To avoid a large gathering of people, this year’s run was done virtually. Organizer and ASU athletics spokesman Doug Tammaro says participants ran the race wherever they were and posted about it on social media.
"There’s a Pat’s Run Facebook group and just on Twitter and Instagram, you see the pride in a lot of people," Tammaro said. "They’ve done this race for five or ten years, their kids have done this race. As you see people getting creative, I saw someone who had his recycle bin and his garbage can, and tape across his driveway, and that was his finish line."
Tammaro worked closely with Tillman. He says Tillman would have loved the idea of a virtual run.
"There’s a lot of honor runs anyway across the country on the same day we do Pat’s run here in Tempe," he said. "In some ways it was business as usual. But I think the main thing Pat would be absolutely thrilled about is the way people are taking care of themselves now."
The race raises money for the Tillman Scholars program, which offers scholarships for veterans pursuing higher education.
The top finisher among the race's nearly 13,500 participants completed 4.2 miles in 20 minutes, 41 seconds.
