More than 100 MSU students and community members were running, walking and rolling Sunday in a race to support the St. John’s Parish Alternative Spring Break program.
The seventh annual 5K River Run was the largest ever, and included age groups from 14 and younger to 60 and older. Participants were able to walk, run and roll, if confined to a wheelchair.
The run raised more than $2,000 for trips to the Dominican Republic and Jonestown, Miss. Campus Minister Kathleen Kurta said students who participate in the trips must each pay $450, but the parish raises more than $20,000 for transportation, room, board and materials.
“That includes fund-raising, begging and borrowing - but we don’t steal,” Kurta said, smiling.
Between 24 and 36 students participate in the St. John’s spring break program every year.
Elementary education junior Anne Miller, one of the student organizers for the River Run, said the race is helping support a great cause by having fun. She has participated in the Mississippi trip for the past two years.
“Out of any vacation I’ve ever taken, even the relaxing ones, it has been the best,” Miller said.
St. John’s Student Parish has been sponsoring Alternative Spring Break trips to Mississippi for eight years, and a trip to the Dominican Republic for seven years. Both trips are service-oriented but are very different experiences.
In the Dominican Republic, students work to educate young children who don’t have legal birth certificates, and therefore may not attend school. To prepare for this trip, many students need to learn Spanish. In Mississippi, students work to repair the house of a family who xcan’t afford improvements on its own.
International relations junior Kim Ross, a student organizer for the run, went to the Dominican Republic last year. And she plans on going again.
“You can see the smiles on their faces when they see that people care about them,”Ross said.
Those triumphant in the River Run were Marcy Marshall of Eaton Rapids, with a time of 19:02, and Chad Theuerkorn of Haslett, who finished the three-mile trek in 16:10.
The top winners from every category received donated prizes from Moosejaw Mountaineering, 555 E. Grand River Ave.; the Student Book Store, 417 E. Grand River Ave.; Outback Steakhouse, 707 Brookside Drive in Lansing and other sponsors.
Everyone who ran in the race was treated to food from Manhatten Bagel, 2090 W. Grand River Ave. in Okemos and Bagel-Fragel Deli, 527 E. Grand River Ave.
Theuerkorn, a freshman at Central Michigan University, said he didn’t know what to expect from this race - even though he has run several races for CMU’s cross country team.
“It was a nice day to race and perfect conditions,” he said. “I’d do it again. I usually do races because it’s for a good cause, and for fun.”
