A location known to be haunted served as a backdrop for an event that raises scholarship funds for physical therapy students Sunday morning.
Ohio University’s department of Rehabilitation Health Sciences hosted the 20th annual Run on the Ridges, with proceeds funding the Joy Boyd Memorial Scholarship. Sponsors for the event included Taco Bell, Zonez, GoodFella’s Pizza, Simon Roofing, Pepsi and URS Architects/Engineers.
“It went really well,” said Gary Chleboun, director of the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences. “This is the first time we ran this during the spring.”
The Joy Boyd Memorial Scholarship was created in memory of an OU physical therapy alumna in 1988 who died a month after graduating. One student in the physical therapy department who demonstrates academic merit, professionalism and dedication to the physical therapy field receives the award, according to the department’s website.
About 60 participants were at the event, about 30 of whom served as volunteers while a mix of students and Athens residents ran.
The 3.1-mile run started at the Richland Avenue roundabout and then looped around The Ridges and ended at the bike path near Dairy Lane. All runners completed two cycles before ending the run.
Event organizers Kayla Nowak and Lindsay Buchenic, second year graduate students studying physical therapy, said they thought the run went smoothly, raising an estimated $200. In 2011, the run raised around $700. Despite raising less money than the previous run did, the organizers considered the run to be a success.
“We had a lot of help for the event,” Buchenic said. “The runners seemed tired, but very motivated. It was a tough course.”
Participants said they felt a sense of accomplishment after finishing the 5K. Rebecca Hunt, a junior studying nursing, said she ran because of family members.
“My brother-in-law is an alumnus of the physical therapy department,” Hunt said. “So he wanted to come and support (the runners). I then decided to run.”
Stu Holmes, a junior studying environmental geology, also ran. Holmes said he enjoyed the event and although he ran the two cycles, he was ready to be finished by the second.
“It was sort of an excuse to get up and get outside,” he said. “It was definitely a positive experience, the sense of accomplishment when you finish is great.”
hy135010@ohiou.edu
