The Newman campus was full of eager runners and walkers at the 2nd Annual Halloween 5K Walk/Run on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 26. The Newman University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) organized the community-wide event in order to raise funds for Make-A-Wish Foundation.
This event is the largest of many fundraising events that SAAC plans to host throughout the academic year. As a member of the NCAA Division II athletics, SAAC has an annual goal to raise $1,000 for Make-A-Wish. The NCAA D-II has partnered with Make-A-Wish and encourages all of its member schools to help in their mission.
The evening saw a good number of participants and SAAC is hoping to raise at least half of their goal for the year during this single event.
Cheryl Scott, mother of Newman triathlon team member Abbie Scott, brought her whole family out for the event. “It’s nice to be on campus and to be a part of what Abbie does out here,” said Scott. “We do a few of these every year, fundraisers usually. We wanted to come out and support Make-A-Wish and Newman.”
Associate Athletic Director Maureen Rohleder said the event has been going on longer than just two years. “Actually we’ve done this for five years, but it used to be the Ugly Christmas Sweater Run. It was just so cold, that we couldn’t get as many people out here. So last year, we changed it to a Halloween run.”
Serious runners competed for a prize based on time, and walkers and children were able to take it slow and trick or treat along the way. Afterward, everyone was invited to stay for hot dogs, food and s’mores. “They can stay as long as they’d like, tell some ghost stories maybe,” noted Rohleder.
