Two fraternities at Ohio State and the University of Michigan took part in an annual fraternity tradition called the rivalry run last week.
Fraternity brothers in the Pi Kappa Alpha and Phi Gamma Delta fraternities took turns running a football 187 miles from the away team’s stadium to the home team’s stadium to honor the rivalry between OSU and Michigan.
The goal of the run is to raise money for the American Cancer Society, the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research and the Coach Carr Cancer Fund.
The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity set a goal of $50,000 combined between its chapters at OSU and Michigan. OSU’s chapter aims to raise $10,000, and Michigan’s has a target of $40,000.
“I think we’re going to hit in between $35,000 and $40,000,” said Michael Adelman, a third-year with a business concentration in finance at the University of Michigan.
Adelman said the chapter at Michigan does a variety of things, in addition to the run, to raise money.
OSU’s Pi Kappa Alpha chapter got donations from friends and family members, collected donations in front of the chapter house before football games and asked for donations at tailgate parties.
The Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at OSU also wants to gather $10,000.
Seventy to 100 total members participate in each of the fraternities’ runs.
This is the eighth year for the rivalry run but the first year the two fraternities decided not to do the run together.
“We really wanted to see how much we can do as a sole fraternity,” said Danny Tran, OSU’s Phi Gamma Delta president and a fourth-year in operations management.
Adelman said the two fraternities wanted their donations to go to different causes. OSU’s Pi Kappa Alpha chapter is donating to the American Cancer Society and OSU’s Phi Gamma Delta chapter is donating to the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research. Michigan’s Pi Kappa Alpha chapter is donating to the Coach Carr Cancer Fund, and their Phi Gamma Delta chapter is donating to the American Cancer Society.
This year’s run started around 8 p.m. Thursday outside of Michigan Stadium and ended around 3:30 a.m. Saturday at Ohio Stadium.
The route mostly follows state Route 23, and participants run rain or shine. The hand-off to the opposite school usually takes place between Findlay, Ohio, and Baltimore, Ohio. Goodman said the ball was donated to the American Cancer Society.
“Usually in the past couple of years, we have the team sign the ball and we give it to a charitable cause,” he said.
Goodman said the run is important to the fraternity members.
“It’s one of my best memories being in this fraternity,” he said. “I feel like it’s something that most schools don’t have — collaboration with a school that we don’t like, but we do it anyway. It’s a great event and it goes to a great cause.”
