On Saturday, November 19th at 9am I attended the Reindeer Run. It was hosted by the honors program here at Stockton and we hope to make it an annual event. The Reindeer Run was a 5k run around campus to raise money for a local family’s christmas. It started at the TRLC where refreshments were available to the runners and antlers could be purchased. The event was able to raise over two hundred dollars for the family, making it a success for its first year, and the reindeer theme was a perfect way to get people into the cheery holiday season.

There were numerous volunteers at hand at the event, including myself, that were that for encouragement for the runners along the path. There were signs everywhere making sure the runners knew what way they had to go and the volunteers along the path had artsy themed signs to hold up when the runners passed by. I enjoyed cheering the runners on and helping them push themselves. I personally am not a runner at all, so being able to volunteer at the event instead helped me find a way to get involved.

Although the run was fun to be involved with and raised over two hundred dollars, there were not a whole lot of actual runners. Since it was the first year this event had been held at Stockton it was understandable, but in the future I hope there are many more participants. It was a fun event to be apart of, there was lots of energy for a saturday morning on a college campus, and I think as it becomes more well known over the years as an annual event on campus it will become more popular. Raising funds for the less fortunate while being able to push yourself to your limit physically is all done in such high spirits that it is hard for me to imagine any of the runners this year not returning next year.