March 3, 2011 - 4:32pm
NROTC holds 235-mile run in celebration of 235th anniversary
BY JORDAN STEIGER
- Chris Ryba/Daily
To celebrate the birth of the Navy and Marine Corps 235 years ago, the University’s Naval ROTC ran 235 consecutive miles over the course of three days to honor the military units.
The 235 Mile Navy/Marine Corps Birthday Run, which began Wednesday at 4 p.m. and ended on Friday at 6:30 a.m., was divided into three-mile increments that members of the battalion ran in pairs. Participants began at the C.C. Little building and ran 3 one-mile loops around the Diag. As soon as one pair finished running, another pair would immediately pick up where the previous pair left off.
Participants were allowed to choose running times that were most convenient for them. However, some of the time slots were a little less convenient than others; since the run was continuous for three days, many members of the battalion had to run in the middle of the night.
The run is a national NROTC tradition and is modeled after a similar event held at Virginia Tech University.
LSA junior Rhiannon Ross, a public affairs officer for NROTC at the University, said the Birthday Run began at the University in 2008 because the battalion wanted to have more of a presence on campus.
Ross said that every member of the battalion participates in some way, whether supervising or running.
“(The run) makes the military here more visible, especially around Veteran’s Day,” Ross said. “People were thanking us for our service.”
Engineering sophomore Sam Emling, a student in NROTC, participated in the run this year. Emling said the members of the battalion were already in shape to complete the run because they work out three times a week.
“By doing this, we are celebrating and being prideful of our service,” Emling said.
LSA sophomore and NROTC member Billy Quinn helped supervise the run because of a recent injury.
Quinn said he hopes that the Birthday Run will become a tradition and that even more battalions will participate in a similar event.
Quinn said he believes the run is very important to promoting the NROTC at the University.
“We want people to know that there is a military presence at Michigan even though this is a really liberal school,” he said.
The battalion includes students from both the University and Eastern Michigan University. In addition to the Birthday Run, the battalion hosted a Birthday Ball on Saturday to continue the celebration.
