BLACKSBURG, Va. – The coronavirus pandemic isn’t keeping Hokie Nation from a promise it made 13 years ago.
Its promise was to never forget what happened on April 16, 2007, when 32 lives were tragically taken. This year, the university is hosting their annual Run in Remembrance virtually.
Like previous years, Hokies from across the country will dress in their favorite orange and maroon gear to walk or run 3.2 miles, bib and all.
The difference is, you are the one printing the downloadable bib, you do the walk on your own between a three-day period (April 16th to April 18th) and submit pictures and videos to sustain the sense of community this race was created for.
“The importance of community in tragedy is so essential. It’s essential for healing it’s essential for people to come together to be one and that run has historically been that one symbolic event,” said Mark Owczarski, spokesperson for Virginia Tech.
Healing is just one of multiple purposes behind Run in Remembrance. That’s why the university felt the race still needed to happen.
“The Run in Remembrance has become such an important event where we also remember the value and importance of being together during difficult times and boy more than ever we need to be together," said Owczarski. "This may be one small way we can be together emotionally.”
Participating is free. To show your participation, photos and videos can be submitted using #VT32Run on Twitter and Instagram or can be posted to the Facebook event page.
Additional information and updates can be found on the Facebook event page or here.