Laura Sommers, staff writer
- on April 21, 2013
- in News
Running a 5k race these days is not quite what it used to be. Races feature variations in their events, like paint runs and obstacle courses, and have been growing increasingly popular. The Sigma Kappa sorority joined this trend with a philanthropy Glow Run on Friday.
The 5k race started and ended in Sigma Kappa’s front lawn and followed a route through campus. Runners received three glow sticks upon check-in and were showered with glow-in-the-dark paint at three paint stations along the course.
“Our original idea for the run came from a girl in our house who had seen glow runs before and thought they were a unique, different idea,” said Victoria Lee, junior in family studies. “Another girl then mentioned the success of paint runs, and we just decided to combine the two.”
After purchasing 1,100 glow sticks and various colors of paint to use, members of Sigma Kappa promoted the event by running a booth in the K-State Student Union where people could register in the week leading up to the race.
While the exact amount of money raised was not calculated as of Sunday night, Lee estimated that the run pulled in around $1,200 for Alzheimer’s research. Sigma Kappa also holds the Ultraviolet Mud Run in the fall to benefit Alzheimer’s research.
“This philanthropy is important to us since so many people are affected with Alzheimer’s,” Lee said “Within our house alone, there are so many girls with grandparents or family friends who have the disease. It’s scary that there is no cure and no real cause known, so we want to do everything we can to help these people. It really hits home to us.”
Of the 173 runners who participated in the Glow Run, Kate Lock, sophomore in accounting, found herself especially impressed with the way it was managed.
“I really liked that the girls cheered the entire time through,” Lock said. “Sigma Kappa did a great job getting both the greek community and the campus as a whole involved.”
Participant Juan Pastrana, senior in architectural engineering, agrees that the attention to detail made it an even more impactful event.
“The girls had a great idea and ran with it,” Pastrana said. “The best part was that they paid memory to those affected by the Boston bombing with a moment of silence.”
As this was the first year the run was held, Lee looks optimistically to the years ahead and is already planning aspects to change in order to improve the event.
“I was so pleased with the outcome of our race and the efforts of each girl in Sigma Kappa,” Lee said. “It was a lot to plan, and everyone stepped up and did their part. I look for this to definitely be an annual event. The large turnout was encouraging, so next year we might anticipate changing our location slightly to accommodate more participants, in addition to getting paint that has a brighter glow.”
The Collegian © 2012. All Rights Reserved. Property of Collegian Media Group.
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEDDMpIDJMq31GKv9lQIQ_E63ji5A&url=http://www.kstatecollegian.com/2013/04/21/sigma-kappa-glow-run-raises-an-estimated-1200-for-alzheimers-research/
0 comments:
Post a Comment