The 21st annual Pat's Run will take place on Saturday with thousands of Arizona State alumni and Phoenix-area residents set to participate. The charity event, honoring the life and legacy of former Sun Devil and Arizona Cardinals star Pat Tillman, will feature a 4.2-mile route for regular folks and a 0.42-mile route for kids in which members of the ASU football team will run alongside them.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham will be the official race starter, following in the steps of past celebrity honorees such as former Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt – last year's race starter.
Kenny Dillingham spoke the honor of being the race starter for this year's Pat Tillman run, and said the whole team will be involved:
— Jakob Brooks (@Jakobrooks) February 20, 2025
"If you have a kid and they wanna participate in the kid's run all of our players will be out there. They wanted to do that."@SunDevilSource pic.twitter.com/0EtymqLss6
"It's just an unbelievable honor for me," Dillingham said in February. "But [it's] really diving back in and seeing how we can coordinate with that foundation to really, you know, keep [Tillman's] legacy alive in this generation."
Pat Tillman's legacy honored at 21st annual Pat's Run
The run/walk is put on by the Pat Tillman Foundation, which was established by Tillman's wife, Marie, in the wake of his tragic death in 2004. Tillman, 27, was killed by friendly fire while serving as a U.S. Army Ranger in Afghanistan. The run serves as a reminder of Tillman's selflessness and draws thousands nationwide to take part. Multiple ASU alumni chapters in nearly all 50 states host their own runs simultaneously.
Tillman played linebacker at ASU from 1994-97. His career was highlighted by earning Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and First-team All-American honors in 1997 as part of the program's conference championship-winning team. He also participated in the Rose Bowl that same season against Ohio State.
Tillman was drafted No. 226 overall in the 1997 NFL Draft by the Cardinals and played four seasons in the NFL before enlisting in the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“At times like this you stop and think about just how good we have it, what kind of system we live in, and the freedoms we are allowed. A lot of my family has gone and fought in wars and I really haven’t done a damn thing," Tillman told a reporter the day after the attacks.
Tillman was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Arizona State Athletic Director Graham Rossini joined the @BroomheadShow to explain the impact the late Pat Tillman had on @ASU's culture. pic.twitter.com/iy7uQ4DTzu
— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) April 11, 2025