DECEMBER 16, 2024 — The approximately 300-mile journey of the Army-Navy Ball Run began on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in front of Quarters 100 — the residence of the U.S. Military Academy superintendent.
Eighteen members of the Army West Point Marathon Team stepped off to cheers from the West Point community and Corps of Cadets to deliver the Army-Navy gameday ball to Northwest Stadium, home of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, in Landover, Maryland, on Saturday, Dec. 14, for the 125th iteration of the Army-Navy Game.
Each member of the squad will run just short of 20 miles with the ball, a plan and execution provided by Ball Run Cadet-in-Charge Aubrey Boatwright.
Boatwright was tasked to coordinate the logistics of the route to Washington, D.C. and collaborate with multiple organizations to guarantee the mission’s success.
“While the ball run required significant effort and meticulous planning, the experience and outcome always make it worthwhile,” Boatwright stated.
The memories created on the journey alongside her teammates and best friends are some of Boatwright’s most treasured experiences at West Point.
“The ball run is incredibly inspiring to me, as it exemplifies how the Long Gray Line truly comes together in unity and purpose,” Boatwright explained. “The reactions and applause from the Corps and Army fans as we enter the stadium after hours of running in the cold makes every step worthwhile. Moments like these fill me with gratitude for being part of such an extraordinary organization.”
As this year marks her third and final time participating in the ball run, she recalls her fondest memory running through a town in New Jersey at around 8 a.m., where an entire elementary school had come out to support the runners.
“The children were cheering, holding signs and their enthusiasm was truly heartwarming,” Boatwright said. “Knowing that we were inspiring those students brought me so much joy. This year, I’m excited to run the ball the farthest we have since being on the team.”
As she touts the bonds she formed through the team as “meaningful and unforgettable,” one of her best friends, Marathon Team Cadet-in-Charge Andrew Poe, reiterates that premise of friendship.
“My teammates are some of the best friends I have made while at the academy and will last a lifetime,” Poe explained.
He works closely with Boatwright to help getting the ball run organized months in advance with what he calls a “all hands-on deck effort.”
“(Boatwright) has done a tremendous job getting the team ready for our 300-mile journey,” Poe stated. “I am a CIC of one of the vans this year, which means I am responsible for helping finalize our route, communicating with our law enforcement escorts during the run, and keeping on schedule.
“It can be a bit daunting over the course of three days, but we have the run planned down to the minute in certain instances to ensure timely handoffs,” he added.
Poe said the marathon team affords him “the opportunity of a completely new challenge” each time he runs and pushes him beyond “the physical limits I thought I was capable of.”
Equally, the challenges of the ball run planning and running the ball are hectic, but as the team CIC, his overall job is to better prepare his teammates to be future leaders through these experiences and skills learned through marathon running.
Some of those experiences included running with the wind whipping in his face in below freezing conditions, but he said the “rational thought is to feel cold and miserable, but somehow you don’t.”
Poe’s favorite moments included running through Mahwah, New Jersey, in his plebe year and being met by thunderous cheers and bagpipes playing. Last year, while running through the town of East Granby, Connecticut, on the way to Gillette Stadium, they were met with a half a dozen firetrucks and ambulances that greeted them with an American Flag stretched over the road and the town lining up on each side of the road.
“All of us who were resting immediately jumped out of the van to join our teammate who was running, and we gave high-fives to everyone we ran by and let the people touch the game ball, too,” Poe exclaimed to this spine-tingling patriotic moment on their journey. “The communities we run through play a massive role in making the ball run what it is, and they help motivate us to keep moving.”
Class of 2026 Cadet and team member Mike Clay is participating in his third ball run and has been struck by the community support every year during the run.
Last year, running through Foxborough, Massachusetts, on the last leg of the run, the team was met with chants of “Army” by elementary school children lined up along the road. The team stopped and were also able to teach a few of the children “The Rocket.”
“To see a community come out to support us meant a lot to me and reminded me that Army-Navy is much more than a game,” Clay said.
Clay reminisces that running into the stadium on gameday is not only just an amazing experience, but also an immense blur.
“You almost don’t know where to look because so much is going on,” Clay explained. “We get our fair share of heckling from the Midshipmen, but as we pass the Corps of Cadets as well as the rest of the crowd, hearing them cheer is an electric culmination to the ball run.”
The Army and Navy marathon teams compete against each other during the year, but it is the final miles of the ball run where Navy’s 13th Company joins the Army team, and the two groups become one as they do once they commission into the military service.
“Despite the rivalry, the mutual sense of service inspires a sense of camaraderie between us,” Clay stated.
As for Class of 2028 Cadet Joshua Steelman, one of four plebe members of this year’s team, he will participate in his first run and he is inspired on what it will feel like to do it.
“I am looking forward to running on the field for the last portion of the ball run because I remember last year, when I was a (USMAPS) cadet candidate, seeing the marathon team run onto the field and thinking that I wanted to join that team,” Steelman said. “The energy from the crowd will be significant to me because taking part in this West Point tradition is great because only a few get to take part in it.”
The ball run has been ongoing since the early 1980s, and Boatwright proclaims it as a “truly one-of-a-kind experience.”
“Knowing that all of our friends and fellow cadets are in the stands cheering us on makes the moment incredibly special,” Boatwright concluded. “The overwhelming feelings of happiness and pride in that moment are unmatched and make every challenge and hardship along the way completely worthwhile.”
By Eric Bartelt
West Point Public Affairs Specialist