More than 250 people participated in a 5K run on Centennial Campus, which was held to benefit the Special Olympics of North Carolina program Saturday.
Campus Police, which hosted the event, will donate all proceeds to benefit more than 38,000 Special Olympic athletes, according to Campus Police Chief Jack Moorman. Moorman said the Special Olympic program is an important activity for Campus Police and for police departments across the state and country.
“Across the country, police departments have made Special Olympics their charity of choice, if you will,” Moorman said. “We’re happy to be a part of that here at N.C. State.”
Despite a steady downpour, runners from all over North Carolina ran or walked the course undeterred.
“We’re not worried about the rain at all,” said Leah Connor, a Goldsboro resident. “Last year, it was rainy and cold. This year, it’s just rainy.”
Last year, the race was held on the same day as the Polar Plunge in February. Moorman said this is the first year since the race’s 2008 inception that Campus Police separated the two events.
“We used to have them on the same day, but it made things difficult because it’s hard to do the plunge and the run both,” Moorman said. “There’s so much going on. Plus, we thought we might have better participation in the run by moving it away to later in the year. Ironically, this year, the day of the Plunge would have been a much better day to run than today”
Still, that didn’t stop Connor and 30 other members from her church, Oak Forest Church of Christ, to make the drive to Raleigh. Connor’s daughter Brenna has Down syndrome, along with another church member named Joseph. At 31 members, the “I Got This” team was the team with greatest number of members.
“We’ve been coming here since 2010,” Connor said. “We’re just out to have fun and support Brenna and Joseph. We’re often the ones bringing in the rear.”
Not everyone was purely racing for fun, Moorman said. The race is a part of the Second Empire Spring 2014 Grand Prix Series. Runners who participate in these races accumulate points and are awarded money and prizes at an awards banquet held at the Second Empire Restaurant in Raleigh at the conclusion of the Series.
“A lot of real serious runners participate in this series,” Moorman said. “That’s why you’re always going to have people to show up, even on a rainy day. We wouldn’t cancel it because the die-hard runners will still show up.”
Special Olympics is a year-round sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The organization offers sports training and competition in 20 Olympic-type sports to more than 38,000 athletes across the North Carolina. Athletes are never charged a fee to participate, but sometimes, they aren’t able to afford travel costs, Moorman said.
“Proceeds from our race will help the Special Olympic athletes to be able to travel and participate in the events,” Moorman said. “A lot of them aren’t able to participate because of travel expenses, and they don’t have the financial ability to do it themselves. This is our way to help them out.”
Omar Wiggan, 34, won the race in a time of 17:48. The top female was Heather Grant, 30, who finished in 21:05.
