Members of UW-Madison's Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity began the first leg of a 268-mile philanthropic run from Camp Randall to the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium Thursday.
About 35 participants in the third annual Fiji Rivalry Run, which raises money for the American Red Cross, will take mile-long shifts toward the stadium with the game ball in hand.
"[The run] really brings us all together," said Leo Warman, co-chairman of the Rivalry Run committee of Fiji.
"It's a good time because it's a challenge that we all have to face as a unit."
The UW chapter will run 156 miles to Winona, Minn., where they will hand the football to the U of M Fiji members, who will run the final 112 miles to TCF Stadium.
The event also serves as a competition between the UW and U of M, where the two chapters attempt to raise the most money for their respective Red Cross branches.
Last year the UW chapter raised nearly $11,000, an amount Warman hopes to top this year.
According to Tom Mooney, CEO of the Western Wisconsin Territory Red Cross, fraternity charity is an important contributor to their cause.
"I just can't thank them enough," he said. "[Showing] that kind of philanthropic initiative is really a great credit to the university."
Mooney said donations will directly impact people in the Madison area at an important time.
"We're coming into the fire season," he said.
"Unfortunately we'll have to provide a lot more support, and this run really adds to that."
Fiji established the event to pay tribute to the Wisconsin-Minnesota football rivalry while keeping a strong emphasis on charity.
Warman said the rivalry between the two chapters is fun but intense. At stake is a replica of the coveted Paul Bunyan's Axe, one side of which the chapter that raises the most money gets to paint.
"Their side remains unpainted," he said. "We always tease them when you raise more than us, you can paint your own side."
When members are not passing the time blasting music or playing cards, Warman said 24 hours on a bus moving at a jogger's pace can seem long. Still, he argued the donations that their running results in make it worthwhile.
"Everything that we planned for ... is paying off one mile at a time," he said.
People can donate money to the American Red Cross at fijirun.com.
