“I’m not very athletic, but I did appreciate the scenery,” said RHA Director of Public Relations Abigail Bhattacharyya.

She said the race was especially fun, which was apparent on her face as she raced her fellow executive board members to the finish line.

“It gave me the boost that I needed to finish,” she said with a laugh.

Thanks to participants such as Bhattacharyya, who woke up for the 10 a.m. 5K, RHA was able to raise more than $400, said RHA Director of Health and Safety Katie Neumeier.

“It’s for charity, (so) anything better than zero is great,” Neumeier said. “I feel like it was a success.”

The first three female and male participants to cross the finish line were awarded first-, second- and third-place ribbons, respectively.

But despite the ribbons awarded to the top runners at Saturday’s event, kinesiology senior Neumeier said the most important part of the day was being able to promote health, camaraderie and charity work all at once.

“It shows MSU can come together as a community,” said RHA Vice President Daniel Mitchell, who received third place for men in the race. “We all can really make something happen while we’re here … We can have a good time. We can work together and achieve some really great things like this.”

The camaraderie the event built was perhaps the most obvious aspect of the race, as friends jokingly pushed each other and raced to the finish line after running for about a half hour.

Several participants said the 5K really brought them closer to the friends they ran with, as well as other students who were strangers at the beginning of the day.

“It was good to have that support,” genetics and anthropology junior Mitchell said of his fellow runners.

Mitchell also said the 5K was especially exciting because it was a chance to run on MSU’s beautiful campus, even if it was somewhat chilly out.

Neumeier said she was appreciative of the chilly, but sunny morning, which did not deter participants from the event as recent rain or the expected snow for the next week could have.

She said although the number of participants was much lower than she had hoped for, the day still was a success. At previous RHA meetings, Neumeier said she was hoping to reach 1,000. Last year, the 5K drew about 120 people.

Neumeier said this was a hard time of year to have a 5K, as it is 5K season and there were other charity walks going on Saturday.

“Lansing’s big breast cancer walk (was) today,” Neumeier said. “I know I can’t fight against that, and I know that’s a really good thing to walk for, so I’m not mad about fighting against that one.”