Pat Tillman - a real hero

I was sweating and sore and ready to collapse on Saturday morning, when this sweatband-clad old guy jogged up to me and asked, "Having fun yet?" It was all I could do to grunt: "No!"

So why the heck was I there? Out on Almaden Expressway with about 3000 other runners and walkers slogging round a 4.2 mile route when I should have been tucked up in bed enjoying a well deserved lie in. Fact is: family peer pressure and a good cause are powerful motivators...

I was taking part in Pat's Run, a race to celebrate the life of Pat Tillman, the Almaden Valley native and football star who turned down a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to serve his country in Afghanistan after 9/11. He was killed in action, an incident that the Pentagon belatedly revealed as friendly fire. If you want to read more about it, his mom, Mary Tillman, has just finished a deeply moving book " Boots on the Ground by Dusk" about the controversy and her quest for the painful truth. John Krakauer is also working on a book, and there is talk of a movie too.

The race brought out thousands of runners and billboard-sized quotes from Pat were positioned along the way. Although I was struggling along and rather grumpy, I reflected on his intense short life and felt a sense of pride to be part of this mass of people celebrating him. The most striking quote for me was this...:"Don't tell me about the pain, show me the baby!"

It's an apt reminder from Pat to focus on new life, a reminder of this amazing guy who led a short but inspiring life. I know he'd be glad that proceeds from the run go to the Pat Tillman Foundation which sponsors students to create positive change around the world. I'm sure that must give his family some solace, but they must still miss their courageous son, brother and hero every single hour of every single day.

When I finished the race in Leland High School's Pat Tillman stadium, ages behind the rest of my family, that high-five from my 12 year old son was all the more poignant. It gave me a lump in my throat.

But here's the thing: Why was the turnout so low in Silicon Valley? Despite preparing for 6000 participants (my daughter and I helped her Girls on the Run Team and many enthusiastic volunteers stuff the goodie bags at Leland High School), only about half of that took part in the race. This looks abysmal next to the turnout for Pat's Run in Arizona, where they had over 15,000 participants. Plus: the Mercury News featured the story of our Silicon Valley hero on its front page the day before. Doesn't anyone read the paper anymore?

Are Silicon Valley-ites just too darn busy being creative? That's sad.

With any luck, with the attention the book is getting, Krakauer's book and the movie in the works, next year Pat's Run will be bigger and even better....and I'll have the stamina to be a little more polite to my older and wiser fellow runners...

This is an original svmoms blog by Alison van Diggelen. She also blogs at www.siliconmom.com