An Oct. 5 event sponsored by ELONTHON and Campus Recreation benefitted Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center via the Children's Miracle Network.
By Sarah Mulnick ’17
Hundreds of Elon University students raced through clouds of colored dye Saturday afternoon to benefit a nonprofit organization that raises money in support of children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada.
The second annual Fall Color Run sponsored by ELONTHON and Campus Recreation brought upward of 600 runners to South Campus for the noontime event. Registration fees of $10 per person directly benefitted the Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center via the Children’s Miracle Network.
As runners navigated the nearly 2-mile South Campus cross-country course, organizers threw bright purple and red and orange and green cornstarch into the air, turning participants into galloping rainbows.
“It’s exhilarating!” said Elon student Ashley Bohley.
For many participants, like Jacob Penn and Lila Purvis, it was the cause that drew them to the race. “Anything for charity,” Penn said.
For others, it was exercise and time spent with classmates that proved appealing. “I like to run,” said Pat Shumaker, “and it is a really great way to hang with my friends.”
The race started with a countdown that ended in shouts of ELONTHON’s “for the kids!” motto. Each runner wore a sticker with the name of a child supported by the Children’s Miracle Network.
“It is for a good cause,” said Claire Farrow, who finished the run covered in yellow cornstarch. “And everyone is in it together.”
ELONTHON is a student organization that hosts a 24-hour dance marathon each spring to raise money and awareness for Duke Children’s Hospital, Elon’s local Children’s Miracle Network hospital. Students collected more than $212,000 last April.
According to its website, since 1983, the Children’s Miracle Network has raised more than $4.7 billion for 170 children’s hospitals across North America. Hospitals use the money to support research and training, purchase equipment, and pay for uncompensated care, “all in support of the mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible.”
This year’s ELONTHON Dance Marathon is scheduled for April 4-5, 2014, in Alumni Gym.