Ginnie Highsmith, Campus Carrier Staff Reporter
Berry College Elementary and Middle School brought over 1,100 runners to campus on March 29 for their annual half marathon fundraisers.
The event had several different options for beginning and intermediate level runners such as the half marathon, which is 13 miles, the 10K, which is 6.2 miles, the 3K, which is 3.1 miles and the “fun run” which was one mile. The races began Saturday, March 29 at 8 a.m. and were finished before noon. The various courses allowed runners, and volunteers who were spread out along the course, to see the landscapes of Berry, spreading from main campus to mountain campus.
The event is in its seventh year. New and exciting features were introduced this year to make sure that all participants had the best experience possible.
These new changes included high-tech gear to keep track of runners’ times and registration progress, as well as the change of registration locations and overflow parking to accommodate the highly anticipated event.
Thanks to the large number of volunteers, the race was a success, despite the less than favorable weather conditions early Saturday morning.
For many, this event was an opportunity to test the limits of their body and mind.
Junior Austin Noyes was one of the many students who participated in the half marathon last weekend.
“Running was not a thing for me until I came to college,” Noyes said. “Last weekend was the first time I had ever put my body under those conditions in a race format, and I loved it.”
While there were some runners like Noyes who did not train rigorously for the event, there were also many runners who spent many months of hard work and sweat to be prepared physically and mentally for the strenuous event, such as sophomore Hunter Jones and senior Amanda Hearn.
“This was my first half marathon,” Jones said. “I started running in August from scratch and made up my own training plan with two 5k’s and a 10k thrown in along the way. I also cross-trained a lot.”
Hearn, who also trained for the race well in advance, detailed her training experience.
“I found a training schedule online and [I’ve] been training since the beginning of the semester,” Hearn said. “So, 11 weeks. Training was good and definitely necessary. I learned the importance of consistency because it helped us prevent injury for our long runs. I also learned the importance personally for having a workout partner. I wouldn’t have been able to have done it without my friend Kelsey Zablan.”
All three students agreed that this opportunity was definitely worth the pain and effort. When asked if they would do it again, “Yes!” was the resounding answer.