Time to Run…
Hannah Castor and Beth South
The Chancellor’s Run
The Chancellor’s Run was an annual event for many years that was popular among residents of the campus and the community. The first run was November 14, 1981 and it included two events; a 3.1-mile fitness run for adults and a ¾ mile fun run for children 12 and under. The first-place winner won a turkey for Thanksgiving. The run was started by Student Activities Coordinator Henry Merrill and the Office of Student Activities in order to utilize the Parcourse exercise course which loops through the back end of the East campus.[1] The Parcourse exercise course is currently the IU East cross-country course and it is still used for the annual campus 5k. Of course, after the campus changed mascots, the run was re-branded as Run with the Wolves. The Chancellor’s Run was later re-branded the Chancellor’s Challenge sometime in the late 90’s and it continued to occur during Homecoming week. While the Chancellor’s Run/Challenge was originally planned for the fall, the Run with the Wolves happens during the summer. The Nearly Naked Mile, however, is another run that now occurs in the fall during Homecoming week.
The Run with the Red Wolves 5k started in 2009. According to Jesus Jimenez, “The Run with the Wolves is part of the Wayne County Challenge, which includes seven 5K races and one 7K.”[2] In 2011, the Run with the Red Wolves broke its record for race participants. The article “Run with Wolves shatters record for participants” shares “[w]ith 548 finishers, this year’s race shattered last year’s record in number of participants and subsequently scholarship dollars for IU East students.”[3] The Run with the Red Wolves 5k continues to be held annually at IU East. Similar to the Chancellor’s Run, the Run with the Wolves also has a 1K Family Fun Run, with Rufus along to run with the kids.
