The Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State is one of the nation’s oldest rivalries, but this year, a new wrinkle will be added to the yearly contest.
The ROTC programs of both universities will participate in the inaugural Egg Bowl Run Monday, in which cadets from both programs will assist in delivering the Egg Bowl game ball from Oxford to Calhoun City to Starkville, where the game will take place on Thanksgiving Day.
Between the two ROTC programs, the run will cover more than 90 miles on foot in one day. The hope is that the run will become another part of the game’s tradition.
“You've got Thanksgiving, you've got football and you've got our veterans doing this,” Ole Miss senior military instructor Master Sgt. Matt Hayes said in a release. “It’s going to be great.”
Ole Miss cadets will kick off the trek in Oxford on Monday morning, running the football 45 miles from Ole Miss’ campus to Calhoun City, where MSU’s cadets will take the ball and complete the second leg of the journey to Starkville.
Twenty Ole Miss cadets have volunteered to complete 10 four-mile legs of the journey to the midway point.
“There will be some rivalry between the ROTC programs. I think we will see who can get to the halfway point the fastest,” said John Bolding, cadet battalion commander for Ole Miss ROTC. “I think it’s going to be awesome.”
The run is to begin at 5 a.m.
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