Dr. Erik Heine, professor of music theory and assistant director of the Honors Program, will run the Boston Marathon on April 16 to raise money for a music scholarship he created.
Heine set up The Deb Heine endowed scholarship fund in 2016 when he wanted to make a positive effect on the university using the resources he had available, Heine said.
His goal was to run 50 miles in 12 hours, asking donors to pledge any amount of money per mile. Heine achieved his goal in eight hours, and he ended up running 71.85 miles in 12 hours. He used the $6,000 he raised to set up the scholarship.
“Running is my hobby. It’s the one thing I do outside of school,” Heine said. “The scholarship fund was inspired by my mom because she first introduced me to music. She was a music minor in college.”
The scholarship fund has about $8,400 but needs a minimum of $25,000 to officially begin producing scholarships, Development Officer Christi Jeffreys said. Heine’s goal is to put $50,000 in the fund. When enough money is gathered, the fund’s interest will produce a $2,000 to $2,500 scholarship per year.
The $50,000 goal ideally will be reached this spring, and the scholarship can begin accepting Spring 2019 applicants, Heine said.
Any music student who has attended OCU for at least five semesters and intends to complete at least one more semester will be eligible to apply for the scholarship.
Jeffreys said, because upperclassmen typically aren’t awarded as much financial aid as underclassmen, this scholarship is intended to encourage upperclassmen to push through to the end.
Heine likened this to pushing through the end of a marathon.
“With the marathon you hear that term, ‘the wall,’ which hits around mile 20, about three quarters of the way through,” Heine said. “That’s about the equivalent of the end of junior year. The idea is to line those two things up and help students get through.”
Heine ran more than 5,300 miles in 2016 and 2017 combined. He ran the 2017 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in three hours and 11 minutes, qualifying for his gender and age group in the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon will be his last marathon, Heine said.
“I’m tired and marathons take an extraordinary amount of time,” he said. “My family is being supportive because they know it’s the last one. I want to spend my time running with my son, who is disabled. I’d rather put my energy toward that in the future.”
Heine said preparing for a marathon is like rehearsing for a show.
“You can rehearse and train, and it can go perfectly, and one thing can slip you up and make everything a train wreck,” he said.
Every mile he runs is for the benefit of students, Heine said.
“One parent of a student was exchanging emails with me and said I was going to suffer so students don’t have to suffer financially,” he said. “That put things in perspective for me. If everything goes right, I’ll suffer for just under three hours. I’m not doing this to seek attention or anything. I’m trying to raise money for a scholarship that will be useful for students for decades and decades.”
Patty Irwin, music theater/vocal performance junior, said Heine has been a mentor for her as a runner and a person.
“When I ran my first 25K, Dr. Heine finished the race over an hour before I did, but he waited for me and ran the last 100 meters by my side,” Irwin said. “He has trained so incredibly hard for this race, running more splits than I can even imagine. He’s attempting something so few people would even try, and it directly benefits OCU students.”
Victoria Ecker, music theater/vocal performance senior, said Heine inspired her to run a 24-hour race to raise money for heart disease research.
“He always runs with a purpose and seeks to give back any way he can,” Ecker said. “He is incredibly selfless, passionate and strong-willed. Every step he takes in the race will go toward providing education for a future music student, and that is the greatest gift of all.”
Heine said he and Dr. Mark Parker, dean of music and theater, worked together to send letters asking some donors to pledge $1,000 for a mile of the race, but any amount helps.
“Ten dollars covers two coffee-type drinks at Alvin’s, if I understand correctly,” Heine said. “If 100 people give that much, we’ll already have $1,000.”
If the scholarship fund does not reach the goal of $50,000, Heine said he will reconvene with university officials.
“I guess we’ll deal with that if we get there,” he said. “I’m trying to be optimistic and not think of plan B or C yet. This is it.”
To donate or find more information about Heine, his training log or the scholarship, go to okcu.edu/advancement/fundraising-events/endurancechallenge.
Emily Bradley, mail center manager, also takes donations from Star Cards in the mail room in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center.
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