Still Running

In 1969, Phi Kappa Psi undergraduate brothers came up with the idea of running the football from Norman to Columbia, Missouri for the highly anticipated then Big 8 matchup. The 450-mile trek through three states was a new unofficial world record for the farthest handoff of a football. Sooner Coach Fairbanks came to the Chapter House at 720 Elm, where he autographed the football at the start of the run. A majority of the approximately 70 members at the time signed up for at least one turn to advance the ball to Columbia. Day and night, they kept advancing the ball, until they delivered it Saturday on the field of play. 

It has been over 50 years and Curt “JC” Hoffman is still running. After receiving the Spring 2022 edition of the 720 Newsletter, Curt, who was part of the 450-mile handoff, wrote to us to share his experiences and accomplishments since graduating from the OU College of Medicine. After becoming an anesthesiologist, Curt began a very successful thirty-year competitive running career. He has earned 4 Top Ten finishes at the US National Marathon Championships, and countless victories in races from 5k (3.1 miles) and longer, which include two Minnesota State Championships (5k & 15k), earning 1st Place in a 5000 m. in Perpignon, and earning 1st Place in a half marathon along the shores of the Mediterranean in Canet Plage, France. Today Curt runs 4 mi/day, 1000 miles/yr. 

Curt carries on a family legacy. Curt’s father was a track star at the University of Cincinnati, became a professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Chicago, and competed against Olympic Gold Medalists Jesse Owens at a track meet in 1935 (a year before Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals in the Berlin Olympics). Curt became a professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Oklahoma and competed against Frank Shorter – an Olympic Gold Medalist in the 1972 Summer Olympics and Silver Medalist in the 1976 Summer Olympics. 

Stanley Catlett put it best when he said, “Joining things doesn’t mean nearly as much as being with something for life, such as a fraternity like Phi Psi.” As a doctor, runner, and brother of Phi Kappa Psi, Curt Hoffman knows what this means. Today Curt carries on a legacy at Phi Kappa Psi by giving a generous donation to the Oklahoma Alpha Chapter. With new beginnings for Oklahoma Alpha comes a unique opportunity for you to continue your legacy at Phi Psi by supporting the “Carry It Forward” Campaign. Your donations will help us continue to build on our vision of the future and carry forward the Phi Psi experience to the incoming Class of 2027 and future generations. 

All gifts to the campaign made through the Phi Psi Foundation are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.