Arts Festival Event Recap: Lift for Life
by Dan Lawlor
Founded in 2003, Uplifting Athletes is a group of college football teammates who turned an annual weight lifting competition into a fund-raiser for kidney cancer. It is a nonprofit organization that leverages college football to change the perception of underserved rare diseases, such as cystic fibrosis), and raise them as a national priority. Current football student-athlete participates in this event to help raise money for a great cause. However, players who are unable to participate due to injury help out by setting up the event so they are involved in some way. Also, an auction was held of Penn State football memorabilia of past players. For example, Franco Harris, John Cappelletti, Lavar Arrington, and more all signed some autographs to contribute. Helmets, pictures, jerseys, football, and more were all signed by players to be auctioned off.
There were over 20 teams of 4 and each team would start the workout every 15 minutes. The workout for these brave football players isn’t a walk in the park. It’s roughly 45 minutes of nonstop physical endurance. There are many exercises that must be done to complete the workout. People gather around the event to watch the football players put themselves through a tough workout for a good cause. “It is one of the toughest workouts I have ever done at Penn State since I been here, out of all the workouts this is by far the toughest,”said Penn State Quarterback Darryl Clark. Players that have been training for years to play the sport they love are struggling to complete the workout. “This will be my second time doing Life for Life and I’m excited because it’s for a great cause and I am proud to be apart of it,” Penn State Running Back Stephan Green. The exercises that make up the workout consist of: Leg press, leg curl, versa climber, squat jumps, bench press, pull ups, 200 plate carry and more. There are more exercises and not a lot of break time in between.
Overall, the event lasted over six hours for all the players to complete their workout. It is great to see former players come back and contribute to be a part of something special.
