27th annual Run to Dallas kicks off ahead of Red River Rivalry

NORMAN, Okla. (KFOR) - The Red River Rivalry kicked off Wednesday morning as the Sooners’ head football coach Brent Venables handed off a game ball to an OU NROTC Battalion Commander. 

"I know we're in great, great hands,” said Venables. “This is the game ball that's going to be delivered in the Cotton Bowl to the referees on Saturday afternoon. This represents the first carry of the game. Nothing impacts the game more than turnover. So, hold on to this ball tightly." 

It’s the 27th year for the annual Run to Dallas. Over the course of two days, the Sooner Battalion will run from Norman to the Cotton Bowl, covering nearly 200 miles. 

"I love this run and what it symbolizes,” said the President of The University of Oklahoma, Joseph Harroz Jr. 

The President joined in for the first leg of the run. 

"Somebody asked how many miles,” said President Harroz. “I'm going to run less than the full 190 miles, somewhere less than that."

Two Oklahoma Midshipmen will be running at all times during the day, trading off with other Midshipmen who will be accompanying the runners in vans. 

"As long as weather [cooperates] and there's no safety concerns, there will always be people running out there the whole hundred and 90 miles,” said Dylan Shaefer, an NROTC Staff Sgt. 

Once the runners make it to Dallas, they’ll meet up with the University of Texas’s NROTC unit on the front steps on the Cotton Bowl, and Battalion Commanders will present the game balls for Saturday’s game to the officials. 

"At the end of the day, it's a great event because, you know, we're rivals now, but we're going to all serve together in the future,” said Shaefer.