14 Tennessee Army ROTC Cadets to Run Game Ball to ‘Battle at Bristol’

The stage is set for one of the biggest college football events of all time – The Battle at Bristol. This game will put the Tennessee Volunteers against the Virginia Tech Hokies and takes place at Bristol Motor Speedway. But what would an oversized football game be without a grand entrance for the game day ball.

This is where 14 Tennessee Army ROTC cadets come in. The group decided that instead of driving to the game of the year, they are going to run the 148 miles. According to Sec Country, the cadets will take turns running two-to-four mile stretches between Knoxville and Bristol. The entire journey is estimated to take 13 hours to run and the group plans to stop in Greeneville, Tennessee on Friday night before finishing the trek Saturday before kick-off.

“With the Battle at Bristol, we thought it would be cool to run the game ball from Knoxville to Bristol to celebrate the historic game and be a part of it in some small way,” said Lt. Col. Jared Crain.

Running that distance to celebrate the game is certainly not just “some small way.” Just make sure the ball gets to the field in time!