Tempe streets were overrun with people on Saturday morning -- 20,000 of them.
All of them were there to honor the memory of Pat Tillman.
“This is exactly what this country needs right now, is more men like him,” said Ricky Riley from Alabama. “He’s just an inspiration to everybody.”
Along with the Tempe run, there were eight other locations holding “shadow” runs at the same time.
Approximately 250 runners took part in those “shadow” runs in San Diego, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Austin, Colorado and a tri-state run through New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
This was the 5
th year for Pat’s Run, and as always, the 4.2 mile run ended on the 42 yard line of Sun Devil Stadium.
Proceeds raised will go to benefit the Pat Tillman Foundation, which honors Tillman's legacy with several “leadership through action” programs, including the Tillman Scholars Program at ASU, the National Veteran’s Scholarship Fund, and the Collegiate Fund for Social Action.
In addition to honoring Tillman, organizers paid tribute to Bruce Snyder, Tillman’s college coach, who passed away on Monday.
Banners were laid out for people to sign with messages of thanks and tribute to Snyder.
Tillman is a former Arizona Cardinals player who gave up his career to serve in the army after 9/11. He was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2004.
