Runners in Sunday’s 408K Race took a spontaneous detour to thank a World War II veteran watching the event in uniform.

Joe Bell, 95, had come out on the drizzly morning to cheer on the runners in the 8-kilometer race from downtown San Jose to Santana Row. The event’s charity partner is the Pat Tillman Foundation, which funds scholarships for military veterans and their spouses.



The runners, in turn, showed their appreciation for Bell’s long-ago service, detouring from the course to shake his hand.



The Tillman Foundation is named for the NFL player from the South Bay who was killed while serving with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in 2002.