Racing in Jake's Memory

It's Tuesday morning on the campus of the University of the Ozarks, the school's marathon team, physically preparing for this weekend's race in Little Rock.

Mentally, they're thousands of miles away, in Tanzania, Africa.

It was early May of last year, 21-year-old Jake Tull was preparing for one of his own greatest accomplishments, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

While studying abroad last spring in Africa, he convinced his mom to join him.

"All of a sudden he's like you can come over and climb Mount Kilimanjaro with me," said Sue Tull, Jake's mother.  "What a great mother son experience.  I said I was kind of thinking safari there where you sit in the back of a landrover."

For those who know the Tulls, the image of the two standing on top of the highest mountain in Africa... not too surprising.

But when Sue agreed to the climb she didn't realize this would be her last mother-son experience.

"I made it to the top about 30 minutes before Jake did and all of a sudden I see this guy lumbering up like the abominable snowman."

It was a rough road down, and a couple of days later, Jake ended up in a hospital in cardiac arrest from an enlarged heart.

It was there in Tanzania on May 19th, 2009 that Sue lost her outgoing adventurous son.

"When you lose a child or a loved one, you want to keep their memory alive and you want to create a legacy," Tull said.

Within days, a scholarship fund was set up at the University of the Ozarks Jones Learning center, a facility dedicated to students with learning disabilities.

Sue credits the school with Jake's success.

"They loved him and he loved them. I've never met a more dedicated group of people," she said.

So dedicated, they are now running 26.2 miles to raise money for the Jake Tull Scholarship Fund, which was recently endowed at over $21,000.

"We have brought a lot of light to not only his life but also to the Jones Learning Center and what it does for learning disabled students as well," said Heather McFarland, University of the Ozarks marathon runner.

His life, more like a 50 yard dash than a marathon, but Jake Tull's footprints will forever be a part of this campus that he loved.

The marathon team will be wearing purple shirts with Mount Kilimanjaro on the back, so look for them Sunday.

Jake's entire family will also participate in the event.