May 8, 2008

Carrying Pat's Legacy Forward

Runners, volunteers make third Pat’s Run a success

By Carol Rosen
Editor

On Saturday, May 3, Leland High School was teeming with runners, volunteers and cheerleaders for the third annual Pat’s Run.

Among the Pat’s Run attendees were members of the Tillman family, including Pat’s wife Marie (above) who was the race starter and is chair of the Pat Tillman Foundation. Photos by John Medina

“It was amazing to see the sea of people, the thousands that came out to support Pat’s Run and the Pat Tillman Foundation,” said Erin Dando, race director. The runners came from all over the United States and there was even one in Great Britain, who ran 4.2 miles near his home.

The three top male runners in the 4.2-mile race were JT Service from San Jose with a time of 20 minutes and 16 seconds, Kevin Pierpoint from Palo Alto at 20:47 and Sean Dundon from San Jose at 21:34. Two other men round out the top five, David Haefele from San Jose at 21:35 and Luke Galvon from Whittles at 21:44.

San Jose residents won the top three women’s spots with Erica Sahll at 24:45, Jenna Hicks at 24:46 and Rebecca Walker at 25:19. Leann Hold from El Dorado Hills took fourth with a time of 26:36 and Jessica Gonzales, also from San Jose, won fifth place with 26:40.

Dando noted a 34 percent increase in runners as well as more than 550 volunteers from Leland High School, San Jose State, and San Jose Search and Rescue. The volunteers handled registration, staffed aid and water stations at the mile markers, helped in the kids’ area, directed traffic, helped to set up and clean up including hauling trash and tables and served as doctors and nurses in case they were needed—they were not. Many arrived before 5:30, said Dando.

Top runners The top runners in the 4.2-mile race were JT Service (left) from San Jose with a time of 20 minutes and 16 seconds, and Erica Sahll from San Jose at 24:45.

Included in the participants were 150 San Jose State students who participate in a variety of sports activities including football, women’s soccer, volleyball, men and women’s golf, water polo, swimming and diving and gymnastics.

The vast majority of the runners were from California, but a group of 70 came from Arizona and 24 from American Samoa. One man who has run the two previous races, couldn’t attend, but ran the last 4.2 miles of the New Jersey marathon with his daughter, in honor of Tillman. Other participants came from Texas, Washington state, New Jersey, New York, Arkansas, Florida, Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.

And a large number came from Almaden, people who had attended school with the Tillman boys. “All of our classmates and their families came,” said Dando. “We reached out to new participants and they responded. Some were here for the first time and now they want to come back with their families.”

Among those from Almaden were, of course, the Tillman family including Pat’s wife Marie who started the race and who is chair of the Pat Tillman Foundation. Also running in the race was Dando’s husband Todd, who ran with their two children, Odessa and 10-month old Shafer, in a stroller. Three-year-old Odessa also ran in the children’s 0.42-mile race, finishing with S.J. Sharkie.

The race helps to support the Pat Tillman Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to carrying Pat’s legacy forward by inspiring and educating young people striving to make positive change in themselves and the world around them. Funds raised at this race--although this year’s totals were not available at press time--are dedicated to Bay Area students selected as Tillman scholars.

Scott Wooten, a senior at Leland, is the first local Tillman Scholar. He will start at Arizona State in the fall.

While most people would recommend a long vacation after such hard work, Dando says work on next year’s race already has begun with the chairs looking at how to improve the run or the expo area. “We start working on next year the day after the race, although it doesn’t take up as much time over the summer. It gets hectic the last couple of months,” she said.