Ryan Gloyer Memorial run a good way to represent middle school namesake
JACKSON TWP — Ryan Gloyer was not afraid to try new things.
While the staff at Ryan Gloyer Middle School in Seneca Valley School District teaches students about the 2000 graduate of Seneca Valley Senior High School who died Nov. 3, 2016, while serving with the Army in Afghanistan; many students got to live like Ryan Sunday by running a 5K.
“Middle schoolers, they don’t know where they are going or where they are, so we’re trying to get them to get involved and try new things they may not have tried before,” said Ryan’s father, Richard “Dick” Gloyer. “He was soccer goalie for three years, ran track for three years, he also loved singing and dancing so he was in three school musicals. For his senior project, he taught break dancing to younger kids.”
The first ever Ryan Gloyer Memorial Run was held Sunday, right outside the school bearing his name. Annie Mersing, development director of the Seneca Valley Foundation, said the organization planned a run in Ryan’s honor because of his work ethic.
“The foundation always wanted to host a 5K, and as we were talking, we were like, ‘It really makes sense,’” Mersing said. “Ryan was such an athlete, he really cared about his body and really inspired others to do that as well, so we thought it was a perfect fit. Something encouraging you to be healthy and also to bring the community together.”
Mersing said members of the foundation had wanted to have a memorial run for a few years, but it took some time to get it off the ground. All the years of buildup led to a successful first event, Mersing said, in which more than 360 people participated.
“It is overwhelmingly humbling how incredible it is to see so many people join us,” Mersing said. “We anticipated about 150, and we are at about 360 now. It gives us such a good feeling.”
Dick said he and the rest of the Gloyer family were glad to see a 5K come together in Ryan’s honor. He said his family constantly tried to tell people who Ryan was, to teach people about the man behind the name on the middle school.
According to Dick, Ryan had two college degrees from Thiel College — one in psychology and one in early education — and he enlisted in the Army in December 2004, after finishing his student teaching. Dick said Ryan had attempted the Special Forces Assessment and Selection, but was not selected for a position after completing the course.
That didn’t stop Ryan from trying the course again and again, however.
“He was in 82nd Airborne for just about 10 years,” Dick said. “He tried again three years later, and he got a hairline fracture in his leg. Another three-and-a-half years, he tried again and he made it.
“You will not always get what you want the first time you try, but never give up. Keep at it.”
Proceeds from the race will fund educational programs at the middle school, and Dick said the family plans to create a scholarship in coordination with the foundation in Ryan’s name for graduating seniors at Seneca Valley. Mersing said with a $25 registration fee, she expects the total to be in the thousands.
The course took participants around the school district campus and through the streets surrounding it, with its start and end being right in front of Ryan Gloyer Middle School.
Phillip Silvis, a junior at Seneca Valley Senior High School, finished first in the race with a time of 17 minutes and eight seconds. He said the memorial race had been the talk at Seneca Valley Senior High School for a few weeks, which put the event on his radar for a chance to run a unique course.
“I didn’t expect to win,” Phillip said. “I just wanted to get a good run in.”
Dick said he hopes to see the memorial run become an annual event, because of the positivity it brought to people.
He also said the run reminds him of Ryan, and it seemed like it was getting Ryan’s mindset across to people who participated.
“He was a teacher, now he’s teaching other kids how to live life,” Dick said. “How to live life and how to get through the hard time, push through disappointments and setbacks. Perseverance.”
