Saint Mary’s Student Government Association (SGA) hosted its first ever ‘Sister Sprint,’ a 5k run and walk, on Saturday as a fundraising event to benefit the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
Starting at the Saint Mary’s Welcome Center, the race wound through campus and the Saint Joe River trail, ending in front of Madeleva Hall. Visiting members of the Sisters of the Holy Cross opened the event with words of encouragement and the “runner’s version” of an Irish Blessing.
Sarah Law, a Saint Mary’s junior and chair of the SGA Community Committee, said she was happy with the results of the ‘Sister Sprint.’ Though rain and driving winds made for a muddy nature trail and prevented many runners from participating, Law said she was impressed by those who pushed through the inclement weather.
The race raised about $440, Law said, which will be used to support the missions of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and aid them in their global efforts to help others.
“I hope that [in the future] more money can continue to be raised through this race in order to support the wonderful things that the Sisters do across the world,” Law said in an email.
The unpredictable spring weather and the busy schedule of Junior Moms Weekend made planning the event challenging, Law said. The planning committee also required special permission from the Sisters to use the nature trail as part of the race course.
As the event is intended to occur yearly, Law said she hopes that the ‘Sister Sprint’ encourages more interaction between Saint Mary’s students and the Sisters of the Holy Cross in future years.
“I think that as a campus, we definitely can benefit from having more involvement with the Sisters,” Law said. “For the future, I hope that this event can be a bigger success in terms of student and community involvement. This was the first year for the race, but I think that it could be a new SMC tradition.”
Natalie Dock, a Saint Mary’s junior who participated in the event, said she enjoyed the ‘Sister Sprint’ despite the poor conditions.
“The race was really fun ... although it was kind of rainy,“ Dock said. “It was really nice that everyone stuck together and we finished pretty much together. I think it will be a fun event for next year, as long as it’s sunny.”
