Yesterday's pleasant weather played host to the Resident Hall Association's (RHA) fourth annual "Stride For Others" - a five-kilometer run that started at 10 a.m. in front of Gasson Hall to raise money for the Boston Rescue Mission. The runners' route, which was blocked off by police, ran along Commonwealth Avenue, turned onto Irving Road, went down Ward Street, and then turned onto Algonquin Road before bringing the runners back to Commonwealth Ave.
In the men's category, Brian Hughes, A&S '10, Greg Epler, A&S '10, and Charles Miller, A&S '09, came in first, second, and third place, respectively. Hughes finished with a time of 16:37. In the women's category, Heidi Jordan, A&S '08, Jenn Christian, A&S '07, and Molly Kruger, A&S '08, came in first, second, and third place. Jordan finished with a time of 21:50. These top three runners in each category were awarded gift certificates.
After the race was finished, Dimitri Yannopoulos, a volunteer coordinator for the Boston Rescue Mission, said a few words of thanks to the RHA and those who partook in the event.
"We're blessed. We really are. That's all I can say," said Yannopoulos.
On April 18, 19, and 20, the RHA had a table set up in McElroy Hall and the Dustbowl. Here, people who were interested in running paid a $10 minimum registration fee (further donations were welcome), and then were to pay another $15 on the day of the run. The first 100 runners to register received free T-shirts, and each person who registered was given five raffle tickets. After the event, prizes were raffled off, including gift certificates to Dick's Sporting Goods, Roggie's, Blockbuster, Circle Cinema, J.P. Licks, and - the crowd favorite - the BC Bookstore.
"We had a great turn-out this year," said Phil Titolo, CSOM '07, and the president of the RHA. There were approximately 130 runners; 105 of whom pre-registered, while the rest showed up on the day of the event. Titolo says that this is a record number of runners since the creation of the event three years ago. The event was started by Titolo in his freshman year, and was originally run on the Newton Campus. This was the first year that the run was held on Main Campus.
Titolo and Alejandro Montenegro, the director of programming for the RHA and A&S '09, explained that there were many sponsors of the event, including Vitamin Water, Luna Bar, City Sports, Dick's Sporting Goods, and the BC Bookstore.
All proceeds from the event went to the Boston Rescue Misson, which was founded in 1899 and provides homes and other services for the homeless. According to the Boston Rescue Mission Web site, their vision statement is, "A healing community where lives are transformed through Christ's Love, Grace, and Compassion."
Their mission statement says that they wish to "provide service to all of our guests, to empower our guests to become valued members of society, while raising awareness for their plight, and to reflect the Love of God in all we do with integrity."
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