Reverence and unity led the way

BLACKSBURG Few things will motivate college students to roll out of bed early on a weekday morning when classes have been cancelled.

And yet, there they were, easily the dominant group among the more than 4,000 who crowded onto Alumni Mall on the Virginia Tech campus yesterday morning.

They came to run 3.2 miles, beginning at 8 a.m.

Those students were there voluntarily, willingly. They were chatting, laughing, seemingly without a care in the world.

Then, the race marshals for the 3.2 Mile Run in Remembrance held up signs that said, "Moment of silence" and there was absolute quiet.

All those students came to do something more than run. They came to honor the 32 members of their Virginia Tech family who died the morning of April 16, 2007, the victims of a gunman and student, Seung-Hui Cho, who had lost his way.

The marshals turned their signs and the message was, "Run Safely." The runners and walkers released thousands of orange and maroon balloons, gave a round of applause, and the race was on.

But this wasn't a race. No one pushed or shoved to get to the front. No one complained about the time required to reach the starting line.

No one became impatient when the mass of people slowed to a walk as the course narrowed. Some held hands to make sure they stayed together in the throng of runners. Many wore something maroon or orange, or something that said "Virginia Tech."

Seventy members of the United States Marine Corps ROTC unit ran in their fatigues and boots. They stayed in formation the entire way.

Later, many of the same runners gathered on the drillfield, in the heart of the Virginia Tech campus, for a memorial service. They listened as brief descriptions of the 32 -- teachers, graduate students, undergraduates -- brought each to life.

They were talented professors, gifted students, athletes and former athletes.

On that morning two years ago, they were where they were supposed to be, doing what they were supposed to do.

"That's what gets me," said Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg. "Eight o'clock in the morning, two or three weeks before school is out, waking up, crossing that drillfield on a day when the weather was awful.

"They were doing the right thing."

Greenberg began that morning thinking about basketball. Soon, basketball was secondary to his concerns as a father. His daughter Paige, now a junior at Virginia Tech, was a freshman living in Cochrane Hall.

"You're paralyzed for a second," Greenberg said. "Then, I reached Paige. Once we knew she was safe, all I could think of was the parents who were trying to reach their children and the uncertainty.

"As a parent, you're supposed to be able to protect your children, to be able to put them in safe environments. There's no defense against a sick, troubled individual. There are certain things we have no control over."

The 3.2 Mile Run in Remebrance began early, but it was not the first of yesterday's activities. At midnight, a ceremony was held to light a candle at the April 16 Memorial on the drillfield.

Forty-five minutes later, the crowd had dwindled, but the emotions had not. Some fought back tears. Others gave up that fight.

The April 16 Memorial features a semicircle of "Hokie" stones, honoring each of that day's victims. That is poignant.

Nearby, there is a display with pictures of each victim. So much accumulated knowledge. So many smiling faces. Such immense potential, promise and hope.

The tragedy, the loss tears at your heart. It was a tough way to end the night.

Hours later on Alumni Mall, those early-rising students found a good way to begin a new day and to remember those who could not.

Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or .