It takes 157 miles. 70 men. 20 hours. Eight counties. Two fraternities. One cause. This coming Friday, the U.Va. and Virginia Tech chapters of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) will participate in the first annual Run Across Virginia, a relay and philanthropy, the brainchild of the two chapters, to benefit the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research.
The game ball for Saturday's football game between the rival Hokies and 'Hoos will leave Lane stadium in Blacksburg at 1 p.m. Friday afternoon. Fraternity members will run with it through the night and it will arrive in Scott Stadium by kick off on Saturday.
A bus will carry the runners, stopping each mile to switch runners and pass off the ball. The Tech FIJI members will run the ball the first half, and will be met by the U.Va. chapter near Lynchburg. The bus will be accompanied by a police escort.
The run will conclude in Charlottesville around 9 a.m., and the participants will then have time to tailgate and relax before delivering the ball.
"All the fourth-year brothers, led by Justin Bonner, our president, will run out of the tunnel with the ball," said second-year Engineering student Dan Laufer, University chair for Run Across Virginia.
The ball will be presented on the field by the co-chairs for the race, representatives from The Jimmy V Foundation and a national FIJI representative.
These two FIJI chapters are not the first to put on such an event.
"We originally got the idea from the FIJIs at Georgia and Georgia Tech, and Kansas and Kansas State," Laufer said. "This year will be the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Kansas run."
The Virginia/Virginia Tech run is different from other runs, however. This is the first time the ball will actually be run onto the field. According to Laufer, the Georgia and Kansas events are only held from house to house, not stadium to stadium.
It was actually the Tech chapter that brought the idea to the attention of the Virginia chapter.
"We called U.Va. to see if they would be willing to do the event with us," said juniorJeff Caldwell. Virginia Tech chair of the event. "Originally we didn't think it was going to be possible, or if we were able to make it work, we thought we would raise $10,000."
And then it grew, Caldwell added.
And grow it did ... by upward of $20,000. Between the two fraternities, the FIJI brothers anticipate presenting a check for anywhere between $35,000 and $40,000 to The Jimmy V foundation.
Together, the FIJI chapters made their decision to donate the funds raised to The V Foundation after careful consideration.
"Each house had their own charity, but we wanted to find something that was beneficial on a universal level and that would influence a lot of different people," Laufer said.
Additionally, the men wanted to find a charity that symbolized and embodied what they were doing in their event. The Jimmy V Foundation was perfect.
The Foundation was established in 1993 by ESPN and late N.C. State basketball coach Jim Valvano. The organization, whose mission is to help find a cure for cancer by providing research grants, has raised over $27 million.
According to Laufer, not only did the group have great connections to the sports world, but more importantly, their motto, "Don't give up, don't ever give up," was more than fitting.
"We are basically running up a mountain," Laufer said. "The motto will be a fitting one to run through our heads as we run."
On the flip side of the fraternity-sponsored event, The Jimmy V Foundation was extremely excited to hear about the plans.
"To have these young people embrace our cause is so gratifying. When they told us what they wanted to do we were obviously pleased," said Nick Valvano, chief executive officer of the Jimmy V Foundation. "But now, to see what a great job they've done with the event and the support they've received, we're overwhelmed. My brother Jim [Valvano] loved working with young people. He would enjoy this event. I imagine, if he were around, he'd be out there running too -- laughing and loving it every step of the way."
According to Laufer, the groups went about fundraising while keeping The Jimmy V Foundation's three steps for measuring a successful event in mind: Amount of money raised, awareness brought to The Jimmy V Foundation and connections made to the Foundation.
"We tried to get the brothers to do the same thing the V Foundation strives to do," Laufer said. "By talking to lots of people the brothers, family and friends are all vested in cancer research."
Each member was responsible for raising $200 any way he could. Beyond that, the group targeted local businesses, obtaining $50 to $300 sponsorship from local merchants. In addition to their contribution, Blue Ridge Mountain Sports is donating socks and hats for all of the runners and Pete Gillen and Seth Greenberg, coaches of the U.Va. and Virginia Tech men's basketball teams, will give long-sleeve shirts to all the runners. Monetary donations made businesses eligible for any range of incentives from door signs to appearance on the Jumbo-Tron and official run t-shirts.
The last facet of fundraising was done on Grounds with an a capella benefit concert featuring six University groups that raised $12,000.
"We didn't want to exclude ourselves from the U.Va. community, but we knew that we couldn't ask for money from students and expect to raise as much as we were hoping for," Laufer said.
Overall, the two groups were looking to hold a successful philanthropy supporting a cause they were all vested in, while creating a positive name for their fraternity.
"We wanted to prove that frats aren't like what they are on MTV -- we really are out to make a difference in the community and help others," Caldwell said.
In addition, Laufer sees the event as unique when compared to all other Greek philanthropies, because not only U.Va. students were targeted.
"We felt that the U.Va. student market was pretty saturated, but saw that the Charlottesville market was open," Laufer said.
After raising an impressive amount of money and working out the logistics, the men plan to hold the event in future years, increasing its success every step of the way.
"We'll look back on it and we won't be able to believe that we started it," Caldwell said.
According to Laufer, "we want to make this a staple of the Virginia/Virginia Tech football rivalry ... we want people to come to the game and expect the football to be run onto the field."
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