Pat's Run races through Tempe

More than 20,000 runners, walkers, volunteers and spectators descended on Tempe April 18 for the fifth annual Pat’s Run Tempe.  <br /><br />This 4.2 mile run/walk celebrates the life of former ASU football star and Army Ranger, Pat Tillman. Proceeds from the race benefit the Pat Tillman Foundation and its Leadership through Action initiatives. Tillman walked away from the NFL to join the Army Rangers in the wake of September 11, 2001. He was killed while deployed in Afghanistan in April 2004.<br /><br />The race was created by Tillman’s friends and family as a way to celebrate his legacy while raising awareness and funding for the Pat Tillman Foundation. Perry Edinger, a friend and former head trainer for ASU, initiated and developed the concept of a 4.2 mile run/walk around Arizona State with a finish on the 42-yard line of Sun Devil Stadium –  no. 42 was Tillman's number while a Sun Devil. <br /><br />The fourth annual 2008 Tempe Pat's Run set record attendance with 19,000 participants. <br /><br />At ASU Tillman helped lead the Sun Devils to the 1997 Rose Bowl after an undefeated regular season. His dominating play at linebacker earned him three selections to the All-Pac-10 Team and the Pac-10 Conference's Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1997.<br /><br />He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Marketing from ASU's W. P. Carey School of Business in just three and a half years. His intense focus and sheer determination led him to three consecutive selections to the Pac-10 All-Academic Football Team, a first team Academic All-American honor, as well as the NCAA's Post-Graduate Scholarship for academic and athletic excellence.<br /><br />This event benefits the Pat Tillman Foundation. To find out more about the Foundation and how you can get involved, visit website: www.pattillmanfoundation.org.</p&gt;