Marine Sgt. Ryan Lane was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009. Duquesne ROTC is sponsoring a push-up contest to raise money for the annual “Run for Ryan.”
Liza Zulick | Staff Writer
In preparation for the annual “Run for Ryan” on April 22, a push up contest will be held Feb. 21 to help raise money for the run.
The contest, open to the campus community, will be held at 7 a.m. in the Power Center Yoga Room. The cost per a team of five is $10.
Eight to 10 teams of five students each will compete to collectively do the most push-ups, in the hopes of winning a gift card from Barnes and Noble. Last year, the winning team did a total of 525 push ups.
For eight years, Duquesne University has held the Run for Ryan in remembrance of the life of Sgt. Ryan Lane, a Marine killed in action in 2009. All proceeds from the contest go directly to funding the “Run for Ryan,” which benefits scholarships of student veterans at Duquesne.
The run started when two students who participated in ROTC at Duquesne spoke with Lane’s aunt, who was employed at the university in the facilities department. They decided to organize the run to draw more attention to the war going on overseas in Afghanistan.
“I think the most important part of this run is getting to see how impactful other peoples’ lives have on your own, like Ryan’s family … as well as the confidence this run has brought me. The experience and people the run has brought into my life is incredible,” said Emma Ferrick, Sgt. Ryan Lane Platoon President.
Lane’s story began in 2002 when he enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating from Carrick High School. After re-enlisting in Paris Island, South Carolina, he was selected to go to Primary Marksmanship Instructor (PMI) school, where he taught recruits the basic training they would need for combat shooting, according to Ferrick.
After being a PMI for over a year, he became a sergeant. He went to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and was stationed with 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. It was here where he trained his Marines into an effective unit and prepared them to deploy to southern Afghanistan. Before he deployed to Afghanistan, he reenlisted for a second time, Ferrick said. He passed away July 23, 2009, from wounds he suffered in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
The April 22 event will be a 5K run around Duquesne University’s campus. The run will start at the Student Union and continue down McAnulty Street, up Stevenson Street to Bluff Street and back around. Categories such as male, female and age will be in place, and the winners in each category will receive dog tags in reward. According to Ferrick, the organization anticipates around 300 runners.
