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thedrifter
04-10-07, 07:18 AM
Students run to benefit paralyzed Marine
Fellow soldiers go 24 hours around lakes
By: Claire Olhsen
Posted: 4/10/07

Staff Sgt. Andrew Raymond, kinesiology senior, and Sgt. Steven Rogers, accounting junior, treated March 31 as any other morning. They woke up and ate breakfast, but instead of relaxing on a Saturday, they prepared themselves for the run of their lives.

The two Marines ran the 4.1 mile loop around the University lakes for 24 hours straight to raise money for a fellow Marine, Staff Sgt. Corey Petersen, who was paralyzed in February by a snowmobiling accident.

The two began a system of running for 20 minutes and walking for 5, then moved to running for 15 and walking for 5.

But despite their careful routine, Rogers hurt himself about 14 hours into the race.

"I was running and slipped off the road on mile 62 and strained a ligament in my knee," he said.

He stopped and rested, while Raymond continued to run a total of 90.64 miles.

Raymond organized the run and the Web site for the event.

"It's just something I thought I had to do. When you know somebody like that, the only thing you can do is try to help, no matter how much money, if it makes her life just a little bit easier," he said.

Raymond said he started to feel exhausted around 4 a.m., 19 hours into the race, but having other people running with him provided great support.

"We had a pretty steady flow of people running with us," Rogers said about the unanticipated runners that showed up throughout the 24-hour period.

The extra runners included fellow Marines, friends, students and other people in the community who had "seen in the news or read in the paper and came out to support," Raymond said.

Staff Sgt. Cheryl Dengler, a friend of Petersen's, said she was at the entire run for support along with other friends of the runners.

The two runners would stop for a few minutes every lap to fill up their water bottles, grab something to eat and use the bathroom, Raymond said. Slinky's Tavern supplied Monster energy drink for the runners.

Raymond said they raised between $12,000 and 15,000 for Petersen through donations from various companies and businesses but expect more from the event's Web site, www.runforcorey.com, which operated through The Heart of a Marine Foundation.

Raymond, who called his close friend Petersen after the race, said she was extremely grateful and proud that two men would offer that kind of support.

"She couldn't believe people would do that for her. She was so happy people she didn't even know were helping her out," Dengler said.

Raymond wants the event to cause awareness of paraplegics and their lives and make others want to help.

"By me doing this for her, it could inspire others to do fundraisers to get out in the community and help others," he said.

With the money raised by their efforts, Raymond said he would like to buy Petersen a racing wheelchair, so that one day she will compete as she enjoyed doing so before.

"I don't want her to give up on life. Maybe she won't give up on herself," he said.

Contact Claire Ohlsen at
cohlsen@lsureveille.com

Ellie