As the sun peeked over the horizon on a cool Saturday morning, over 2,000 runners assembled at the starting line of the 20th annual Holy Half Marathon. The half marathon and 10K run began at 8 a.m. on Saturday when the first wave of runners set out from the starting line near Stepan Center.
Seniors Mary Bridget Shaughnessy and Elizabeth Stone, co-directors of the marathon, oversaw a majority of the event operations. As students coming from Notre Dame and St. Mary’s, respectively, both Shaughnessy and Stone discussed the importance of promoting this event to the tri-campus community.
“The Holy Half was started 20 years ago by students, and it's been carried on by students ever since,” Stone said. “We work with a lot of Notre Dame partners and local community members, yeah, but all of the boots on the ground are students.”
In addition to the student community, the organizers also discussed how the Holy Half’s participation has expanded over the years to include more individuals outside of the tri-campus community.
Shaughnessy noted one runner even flew all the way from Alabama to Notre Dame, for the first time, just for the race. She also noticed many alumni and parents jogging alongside student runners.
Beyond seeking to unite different communities within Notre Dame, the Holy Half leaders also prioritized raising money for various organizations. According to the co-directors, the planning committee worked with a variety of new partners to sponsor both events and materials distributed during the marathon.
“Girls on the Run is one of our beneficiaries, and they run a program with third to fifth graders,” Shaughnessy said. “You teach them running, or things like positive attitude. [Girls on the Run will] bring some of their runners in to cheer on, so it’s really nice to have their young girls cheering on, getting excited about their own race in May.”
In addition to Girls on the Run, other beneficiaries, such as Power Crunch, sponsored granola bars for the runners, and the co-directors noted many other groups contributed to the overall marathon proceedings.
On top of these collaborations, funds raised through runner registration were also given to charity. The event partnered with Girls on the Run Michiana, Education Bridge and the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.
With a record-breaking number of runners this year, Stone and Shaughnessy relied heavily on their team and community to execute the marathon. The Holy Half core team consists of approximately 30 members, but Stone and Shaughnessy also emphasized the key role the Notre Dame community played in supporting the event.
“I don't even know if we have a number [for the volunteers], because the amount of people that just will show up that morning and say that they want to help is truly the best thing ever,” Stone said. “We’ll be [in the Stepan Center] at 4 a.m., but people are gonna be here before the race starts.”
The support from community members did not just come from volunteers, but also from spectators in various residential halls. A number of dorms, including Lyons Hall, sponsored water stations and cheered on the runners that passed their dorm. Stone and Shaughnessy noted how this practice has been a great way to support the Holy Half as well as promote dorm pride.
Other individuals outside of the University also sought out ways to support the runners. Mike Carroll, a Notre Dame alumnus, stood alongside his family at the Holy Half to support the runners. Carroll flew all the way from San Diego to support his daughter, freshman Ellie Carroll, who participated in the half marathon. The Carroll family sported handmade signs to support their daughter, joining the myriad of community members cheering on runners.
“We’ve been encouraging Ellie [by providing] mental and physical support as a loving family,” Mike Carroll said. “We’re so proud of her, because this is the first time that she’s running a half marathon … She’s recovered from an ACL tear and reconstruction, so this is kind of her biggest kind of physical challenge since recovering from that surgery.”
With the conclusion of this year’s Holy Half, Shaughnessy and Stone hope to continue a legacy of student and community engagement. Both emphasized the emotional reward for participants and volunteers as individuals partake in this unique experience.
“I found that my favorite spot to be on the course is at the finish line,” Shaughnessy said. “The amount of emotions you see people go through when they cross that finish line is my favorite part. You see them cross, and some of them would get tears in their eyes and get so excited. Being at the finish line and watching people accomplish something that they might not necessarily thought they could have is my favorite thing ever … The atmosphere is something you’re not going to get anywhere else.”
