The sky was a cloudy gray and a light breeze danced through the air — perfect weather for a 7.8-kilometer run. Shaded by the oak trees that line the East Campus trail, dozens of members of the Duke community lined up behind Baldwin Auditorium Wednesday afternoon and looked to Duke men’s basketball sophomore Stanley Borden at the front of the crowd as he explained the route.
Over the next two hours, everyone, from undergraduates to basketball coaches to locals who decided to dedicate their afternoon to a good cause, ran or walked a loop around the trail to raise money for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.
“Gigantic smile. I couldn't help it. Just seeing all these people come out for something and do something difficult, because this is hard, and have smiles on their faces and be happy doing it for people that they don't even know, it's fantastic,” Borden told The Chronicle after finishing the run.
Borden, a native of Istanbul, Turkey, and a basketball fan favorite among students, began organizing the event with the help of multiple campus deans last week. The team and Duke athletics helped him publicize the run. Last week, the Turkish Circle, Duke International Student Center and the Muslim Student Association jointly held a vigil for victims of the earthquake, where Borden spoke and announced the fundraiser. The goal was to raise $7,800 for Turkish and Syrian aid. By 5 p.m. Wednesday, the official end of the run, $5,500 had been raised.
Just two days later, the $7.8K goal was met, according to a Friday post on Borden’s Instagram account.
Both countries have been devastated by the Feb. 6 earthquake, but Turkey has been hit especially hard. The 7.8 magnitude quake is the deadliest earthquake to hit Turkey in more than 80 years, as more than 40,000 people have died in the country so far, with an additional 5,800 victims in Syria. Both those numbers will continue to rise as search and rescue teams continue to excavate the rubble of collapsed buildings, and aftershocks are still ongoing.
For Borden, whose mother is Turkish, being thousands of miles from family during such a difficult time has been difficult. Last year, Borden’s uncle died while the then-freshman was beginning his time at Duke, and Borden told The Chronicle after the Blue Devils’ Tuesday home game against Notre Dame that his processing of the earthquake has felt similar, even though his family has not been personally affected.
“Not being there is the part that hurts most: with my family, with my friends whose families have been affected, things like that. So to get the whole community together, to have something like that tomorrow, I'm really excited for it,” he said after Tuesday’s game.
As 3 p.m. Wednesday approached, members of the Duke community trickled into the area surrounding Baldwin Auditorium on East Campus, welcomed by tables filled with water and snacks. Borden welcomed them to the run, making a point to talk to many of the participants personally.
The participants had many different reasons for being there, and both seasoned runners and relaxed afternoon walkers came to help raise money.
Juniors Trisha Gupta and Alison Zhang are both training for races, a half-marathon and a 10k respectively, and were motivated by the cause to do a little extra training.
“Being able to run with other people, and then also just running for a good cause,” Gupta said of what inspired her to do the run.
“It's a great way to support a good cause, but also train,” Zhang added.
Josie Pegg, who grew up in Durham but now lives in Greenville, N.C., is training for the Tobacco Road Marathon and was inspired by Borden’s charge to help his home country and a desire to help out, even if it was something small.
“I've been seeing some of the news reports about the earthquake and how devastating it was. And I saw the post from Duke on social [media] this morning. And I was like, ‘You know what, this is a great opportunity to put my money where my mouth is and help out a kid who's trying to do whatever he can to help out his fellow countrymen and just the world in general,” Pegg said.
“It was really inspiring to me to see that he took charge to do something to help make a difference,” she added.
The 7-foot Borden finished the run first. ”It’s not a race, but if it was, I’d hope to win it,” he said Tuesday, so he spent most of the afternoon cheering people on at the start, talking to people as they finished and checking on people if they took a rest.
Participants included associate head coach Chris Carrawell, assistant coach Amile Jefferson, general manager Rachel Baker and head coach Jon Scheyer’s wife, Marcelle. Assistant coach Jai Lucas and his family came for the beginning of the run, where Borden gave a short speech. Meanwhile, Scheyer himself arrived for the ceremony at 5 p.m. with his children in tow, as well as the rest of the Duke men’s basketball team.
The ceremony consisted of pizza, handed out by Borden and served with a side of, “Thank you for being here,” a raffle giving away Duke men’s basketball merchandise and an address from Borden.
“Seeing this many people here for individuals who are thousands of miles away, it really warms my heart, so thank you all. For those who ran or for those who have just shown up for the ceremony, thank you for putting what you could into this. For those who donated who are not here, thank you, this is amazing to do,” he said. "From me to you, Turkey to here ... This is amazing. Thank you guys, seriously."
He ended with a phrase in Turkish: "Herkese teşekkürler gerçekten." Really, thanks everyone.
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Sasha Richie is a Trinity senior and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.