Despite below freezing temperatures on Sunday, over 550 students, parents and other community members ran to help raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
The second annual Red Rush 5k, organized primarily by SGA president Jorge Richardson, senior Anjana Setler, junior Alex Hosker and sophomore Selvi Ulusan, began at 9 a.m. Marcela Falck-Bados, chairman of LLS month, helped to oversee the event. Registration cost $35, while kids (age 5-10) participating in the Red Rush Jr. fun run/walk paid $20.
Richardson and Falck-Bados agreed that thanks to better organization with registration this year, there were more participants.
“We had to fix some technicalities from last year, as well as making sure people got their packages and signed up on time,” Falck-Bados said.
One fixed issue involved changing the position of the starting line in order to ensure that the race was actually a 5k, or 3.1 mile, race. Last year, the starting line was the same as the finishing line, making it fall short of measuring the exact distance.
Before the race, men’s chorus sang the National Anthem while runners enjoyed pre-race snacks and listened to Richardson thank them for coming together to help support a great cause and defeat cancer.
“I love all the events in LLS month but especially events like Red Rush,” Falck-Bados said. “It’s events like these that bring out the entire community and unite everyone.”
Starting near the entrance to the school, participants ran, walked and even skipped their way around the adjacent neighborhood. About halfway through the race, there was a water station where participants could pause and rest for a moment. From there, they continued until they reached the finish line, circling back to the front of the school.
Junior Evan Woods came in first, marking his time at 16:45, followed by junior Amir Khaghani with a time of 17:05. For the girls, a runner from B-CC, Michaela Peterson, finished first at a time of 20:06. Right behind her was junior Lela Walter with a time of 21:30.
Throughout the race, volunteers from the Church of God acted as cheerleaders, motivating and pushing the runners to keep going. Students say that the volunteers certainly made the running a lot easier for participants. Among these students was Anna Gurney, who had never run in the race before.
“The volunteers helped me a lot and the run was actually fun despite the cold,” Gurney said.
In order to raise more money this year, the SGA added the Red Rush Jr., an activity for children five to ten years old. The event, Richardson said, was created so that people too young to run a 5k could still participate and help raise money. Although it required more organizing, Richardson said that it was all worth it.
“It’s definitely not easy organizing all of this,” Richardson said. “But I love doing this and the results are amazing.”
After the race, participants could relax and help themselves to water, bananas, granola bars and Georgetown Cupcakes. Runners huddled in groups afterwards, many bouncing up and down to stay warm, talking and laughing.
“I think it’s a great way to raise money,” sophomore Erin O’Connor said. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s so publicized that loads of people always show up.”
