The University of Idaho Track and Field and Cross Country programs will host Run Like a Vandal Saturday. Participants can register for the 5k race online for $15 or for $20 the day of the race.
“It is unique in the sense its part of an athletic team and what we do as a team,” said Travis Floeck, assistant Cross Country coach.
He said the money raised from the event would go to help the team pay for meets, buy gear, send athletes to meets and anything else they may need.
Local newspapers approached the Track and Field team about putting on a run as part of the Women”s Expo, Floeck said.
The Women”s Expo held at the Best Western University Inn gives women from the area a chance to network and talk about some of the challenges they face in the professional world, he said.
The Women”s Expo wanted to do an active event as well, he said. Besides the participants at the expo, he said the event gives UI students and the Moscow community a chance to be active and support the Track and Field team.
Floeck said they are glad to be given a chance to put it on, and the program had been discussing doing a 5k road race, which seems to be popular with other organizations.
The race will begin 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Guy Wicks field. The course will pass through campus, so participants will get an excellent view of UI, said Kinsey Gomez, a senior Track and Field student-athlete who is helping to put on the event.
The course ends on Paradise Path and the top three finishers will receive prizes.
Gomez is job-shadowing the coaching staff this year, and said that is the biggest task she has had yet. She said she is excited to be part of the first 5k-road race the team has put on.
Gomez said the entire Track and Field team plans to be spread out around the course and cheer the participants on. She said the team plans to wait and see how successful this event is and then decide if they should continue with it in the future.
If they do have another, Gomez said she wants to do more advertising through social media. The event was advertised in the community and on campus, but Gomez said she thinks advertising online would draw a bigger crowd.
Gomez said she hopes the event will bridge the gap between the team and the community.
Katie Colson can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @katiecolson007