STUDENT COMBINES PHILANTHROPY WITH SOUND BODY GOAL

Cody Hart, Morehead State ’13, knew he wanted to spearhead a philanthropy project for his chapter. The only question was what kind. He had only one requirement. “I had to do something above and beyond what anyone else on campus was doing,” he said.

With that in mind, Hart decided to run the ING New York City Marathon as a way to raise money for charity.

To support him, the chapter raised over $2,700. Donations poured in from other Greek organizations, and even the university gave $250. Hart’s Kentucky Zeta brothers helped get local businesses involved, and hosted a spaghetti dinner night to raise money from Morehead State students.

Hart donated to New Heights, a Brooklyn-based charity and partial sponsor of the race. He chose them because he saw a connection between the charity’s goal and SigEp’s purpose. “They do a lot of the same things that we do in the Balanced Man Program,” he said. “They set up academic goals for kids from junior high to high school. Their goals are to make sure these kids go to college and have a chance to succeed in life.”

Hart has always been well-conditioned, a necessity for a former high school soccer player like him, but running a marathon with no previous long distance training was a daunting task. His training for the November 7 race began after his final exams in May. He returned home to Atlanta for the summer and squeezed his runs in, when he wasn’t busy working two jobs.

For Hart, the experience wasn’t merely a training regimen but a total lifestyle change. He would wake up at 4:30 a.m. to have time to complete his 12-16 mile runs, avoid the heat, and get on with his day.

Hart returned to campus and continued his training this fall. While he had trouble finding brothers who were willing to run 20 miles with him, he had no shortage of volunteers to help with his training. His SigEp buddies would drive him a handful of exits down the highway, and drop him off so he could run all the way home. What are brothers for, right?

The race went well, and Hart achieved his goal of finishing in under four hours—he crossed the line at 3 hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds. Predictably, Hart wore his SigEp t-shirt for the race. Uncharacteristically, he ditched his iPod at the starting line.

“SigEp means a lot to me,” he explained. “Running in letters just felt appropriate.” He went on, “I didn’t run with an iPod just so I could hear the people. I thought, ‘There’s no way I’m spoiling this by listening to music.’”

With his ears unobstructed, Hart was able to hear the spectators, many of whom were SigEps. He said dozens of people saw him wearing SigEp letters and called out to him or offered high-fives. He made their day when they saw a SigEp running the race, and they made his by cheering him on at every turn.

It was a far more motivating soundtrack than his iPod.

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