THE DAILY O'COLLEGIAN, April, 20, 2007
By Allison McCartney
The first Remember the 10 Run, honoring the members of the OSU basketball family who died in the January 2001 plane crash, will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Kerry Alexander, the event founder, chairman and an OSU alumnus, said he was inspired to create a run after reading a book Bill Hancock, the father of William Hancock who was a victim of the crash and was the media relations coordinator, wrote.
Alexander said the book was about how Bill Hancock dealt with his grief through exercise and moved forward by riding his bike from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.
“The run is a good way to turn grief into something positive,” Alexander said.
Alexander said the run has three main purposes: remembering the 10 who died and celebrating their lives, raising the profile of counseling on campus and contributing to OSU counseling.
“We want to show people that there’s an alternative to dealing with grief other than the destructive path that many people choose,” he said.
Participants can choose from a 10K, 5K or one mile fun run.
The entry fee is $25 for those who register before Saturday or $30 the day of the race.
From 5 to 8 p.m. today, there will be an on-site registration in the east lobby of Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Registration the day of the race will be from 7 to 8:30 a.m.
Alexander said the number of participants exceeded his goal.
“We had hoped for 250, but so far we have more than 600 who’ve registered, and there’s still today and tomorrow to register,” he said. “For the first year, that’s not bad.”
Eddie Sutton, who is the honorary chairman, and Pistol Pete will start the race.
It will begin south of Gallagher-Iba and circle the campus and possibly parts of Stillwater, depending on the length.
An exact course map will be posted Saturday.
Alexander said many people are helping in several ways besides running.
He said many fraternities and sororities will be along the race path on University Avenue.
The Pre-PA Club will work in the medical tent with doctors and assist them with anyone who needs medical attention, said Davilyn Rich, a sophomore nutrition major and Pre-PA Club volunteer chairwoman.
“As a new club, we are trying to get more involved in things that matter, and this run is especially important to our community and I think this is a great project to be involved in,” she said.
Other students are running to show their support.
Matt Barnes, a merchandising senior who is known as Matt the “O” because he wears the orange jumpsuit with an “O” on it at OSU basketball games, will run in his jumpsuit.
“We’re all going to do [the run] in our jumpsuits because it was an OSU basketball tragedy, and we want to show our support to OSU basketball,” Barnes said.
He said five of his friends will run in their game-day outfits, including one who paints his chest orange and wears a hula skirt at the games.
Alexander said however people choose to show support, it is needed.
“The eyes around the country will be on the Cowboy nation, and we want to show the nation that we care about our own,” he said.
The Remember the 10 Run will be an annual event taking place the third Saturday in April.
For more information or to pre-register, go to http://www.remembertheten.com or e-mail Kerry Alexander at kerrydonalexander@hotmail.com.
If you are interested in volunteer or sponsorship opportunities with this annual event,
please e-mail Kerry Alexander at: kerrydonalexander@hotmail.com
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