Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR)

Running For OUR Lives: The Second Annual 5K Run for Sustainability Raises Money for MA Land Preservation

 

Students, staff, and faculty turned out for the second annual Run for Sustainability on 5 May 2008, and you couldn't miss any of the 40 or so runners in this year's 5K: the t-shirt for this year's race was as bright (and yellow) as the noon day sun in the age of global warming. The event was organized again this year by the Biology Club with the support and sponsorship of The Center for Sustainability at Bridgewater State University and the Office of Undergraduate Research.

The winner of this year's race was Dr. Jeff Williams, faculty in the Physics department. And he assures us that his win was not the result of any tampering with the time-space continuum.

All proceeds went to The Trustees of Reservations, an organization dedicated to protecting and preserving historic, scenic, and ecologically valuable properties in Massachusetts (http://www.thetrustees.org/).

Special thanks goes to Dan Rezendes, Director of the Fitness Center, for mapping out the loop on the BSU Great Hill Trail (If you have not yet explored the trail you should-maps are available through the athletic department website at http://www.bridgew.edu/Recreation/htm/Greathilltrail.htm). And, as always, many thanks to Kathy Frederick in the OUR for her tireless support of students as well as the environment.

The OUR has been instrumental in the start up of what we all hope becomes a longstanding tradition at the college because we believe that smart students are smart in the body as well as in the mind-and we want long, healthy lives for all ATP participants and a healthy planet to live it in.

 

ATP Students fill Baskets with Love, Legos, Lots of Other Things in 2007

At Christmas 2006 the OUR invited the Summer 2006 ATP researchers to help us collect school supplies for a school in South America. Our donations to that cause were identified as the most successful collection of stuff received.  This Christmas 2007, the OUR adopted two local families through the Baskets of Love program sponsored by the Office of Community Service & Volunteerism. Our two families had about four kids in each of them-most of them under the age of ten. The Summer 2007 ATP students helped us to fill up the baskets for these two families to beyond brimming.
 

Every one of the children got at least two complete outfits. But of course no one wants clothes for Christmas when you are a kid, and the ATP students made sure there was no lack of fun things in the basket. Additionally we gave each family a modest gift card to Stop-N-Shop.

All of us need help at some point to get a better place. Don't make any mistake about it. Whatever the help looks like, we all need it. ATP is this program that makes it possible for students to do something that they might not otherwise have been able to do. And, in our own way, by donating a winter coat and some Legos, we did the same thing for some local families.

The generosity of Summer ATP students once again demonstrates that BSU has a lot of great and grateful hearts as well as great heads filling up the place.

 

First 5K Run for Sustainability

One day the BSU 5K Run for Sustainability will be as famous as, say, the Tufts 10K or the Boston Marathon. Crowds upon crowds of runners will line up at the start, the tower lot will be filled to overflowing, and athletes from all over the world will relax and ready themselves in the Krevosky/Bloch Run for Sustainability Health Pavilion.

But that race was not the race anyone ran last Tuesday.

On this glorious day in the not too distant future, the founding runners of the original race will recall with great affection that rag-tag group of runners haphazardly making their way across campus to the course that first time.

A small but dedicated collection of tree-huggers, hard-core runners, and general fitness enthusiasts, thirty six in total, gathered in front of the Adrian Tinsley Center on Tuesday, 25 April 2007 for a twilight run/walk of the first ever BSU 5K for Sustainability. The event, organized by the BSU Biology Club and supported by a few good-natured English and Philosophy Majors, was sponsored by the BSU Center for Sustainability, the Office of Undergraduate Research, and the Center for Advancement of Science and Exploration (CASE).

Proceeds from the race went to the Mass Watershed Coalition (http://www.commonwaters.org/).

The Biology club was advised by Dr. Meredith Krevosky and Dr. Chris Bloch, and the whole effort was supported by Kathy Frederick in the OUR and Kevin Fitzgerald In Events and Conference Planning.

Special thanks goes to Dan Rezendes, Director of the Fitness Center, for developing a course ideal for the occasion by mapping out a loop on the BSU Great Hill Trail (If you have not yet explored the trail you should). Maps are available through the athletic department website at http://www.bridgew.edu/Recreation/htm/Greathilltrail.htm. The course offered all who participated a challenge; finishing was its own reward. This did not keep a group of runners from running the loop a third time, adding a mile and a half to their workout. All involved in the event agreed that we should have the race there again next year.

Any runner of road races will tell you that a quality tee-shirt is the deal breaker for participation. The Run for Sustainability tees were top notch and designed by BSU art major, nature lover, and runner, Michele Prunier (if you are interested in purchasing a tee, please contact Kathy Frederick in the OUR for information. All proceeds still go to the Mass Watershed Coalition, and, really, it's OK to wear the shirt even if you didn't run the race).

In twenty-five years, in the Krevosky/Bloch Health Pavilion, you can check to see if I got this story right. Plans are already in the works for next year's run.

Click here to see additional photos of the 5K Run for Sustainability
Click here to see NCUR 2007 photos

Last Modified: August 24, 2010