Presidential 2.5K run short, yet enjoyable

The Ron Daniels Presidential 2.5K Fun Run, the closing event of the Fall Fest 2011, took place this past Sunday morning. By the 9 a.m. race time, nearly 30 participants, the standard turnout according to President Ronald Daniels, were waiting on the starting line ready to race through the Homewood campus side by side with Daniels.

"It's about the camaraderie – but let me win," Daniels said to his competitors seconds before the race started.

The course started at the Athletic Circle in front of the O'Connor Recreation Center and proceeded across the Freshman Quad, behind Levering and Gilman Hall, and then all the way to Mason Hall. There, the course looped back around to Bloomberg, past the practice fields, and finished back at the Athletic Circle where Daniels gave high fives to those who finished behind him and motivated everyone across the finish line.

"The event originated three years ago when President Daniels came to Hopkins. Since then we've done it annually as a part of Fall Fest" junior James Verdone, one of the organizers from the Office of Student Life, which sponsored the event, said.

According to Verdone, the event has not changed significantly in its short history.

"The course has changed since the first time, and we're zero waste this year, but otherwise everything is the same from the previous two years."

After the event, a catered reception took place. There was water, Gatorade, fruit and muffins provided by Hopkins Office of Housing and Dining free of charge to competitors as incentive for completing the 2.5 kilometer course. The reception was also zero waste, meaning that everything was sustainable and recyclable.

A raffle also took place midway through the reception. Prizes included prize bags with shirts and water bottles, congratulatory letters from Daniels with a gift card inside and the grand prize of an iPod Shuffle, donated by Daniels.    

"[I enjoyed] the delicious muffins and witty banter with the president," sophomore Jeff Knox said about his favorite parts of the event. "I probably would've gone running anyway, and this is more fun."

"It's a change of pace from the McCoy treadmill," sophomore Alexandra Colt said as to why she participated.

Daniels, too, enjoyed the event.

"My favorite part is not being the last person to finish," Daniels said. "The students here are very polite and back off towards the end so I can finish in a decent position. I think it says a lot about the people here at Hopkins."

"It's just a fun and enjoyable event on a Sunday in October," Daniels said. Despite the fun they had, however, some participants were disappointed by the turn out.

"I wish there had been more people" Colt said. "But it was still short and fun."