Story By: Stephen Solomon
Photos By: Ljubica Basic

On Saturday, April 9, the Phi Delta Theta chapter at Missouri Western hosted the 5K Walk/Run for ALS.

All the racers were out in front of the Spring Sports Complex at 8 a.m. when the race began. For the next few hours, the Missouri Western campus was filled with runners and walkers who completed the event and helped to raise money for such an important cause.

“It was an awesome turn out,” Trent Pickett, a senior Phi Delta Theta brother, said. “It was really fun, and it was a great way to raise money for such a serious disease.”

ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Gehrig was a hall-of-fame professional baseball player who played for the New York Yankees. He was diagnosed with ALS in the 1930s. Gehrig was also a member of the Phi Delta Theta chapter at Columbia University.

Because Gehrig was a Phi Delta Theta brother, the fraternity has taken a special interest in raising money for ALS research. As a whole, the fraternity has a philanthropic partnership with The ALS Association. Through the Iron Phi program, Phi Delta Theta has raised close to $1 million for ALS research.

This race was especially meaningful to Alex Atkinson, a senior Phi Delta Theta member, who, by completing this event, became an Iron Phi. An Iron Phi is an honor given to members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity for their participation in a sporting event, and for raising money for ALS research.

To become an Iron Phi, Atkinson was required to raise $1,000 in donations. After months of planning, Atkinson was able to reach his goal of $1,000 raised. At the completion of the 5K race on Saturday, Atkinson officially became an Iron Phi.

“It is an awesome accomplishment,” Atkinson said. “I’m honored to be one of 515 Iron Phi’s in our fraternity.”

Phi Delta Theta hopes to make the 5K an annual event that gets a lot of participation from active members and alumni.

“I’m not able to come back for every event Phi Delta Theta hosts, but this is one of those events that I couldn’t miss,” Dillon Williams, a Missouri Western and Phi Delta Theta alumni, said.

In total, the 5K was able to raise close to $2,000 that will be used for researching a cure for ALS.