By David Hurtado
If you’ve ever wanted to race the college president, then now is your chance.
The college is hosting the inaugural Lace Up For Learning 5K Run-Walk on Oct. 13 at 8 a.m. The 5K Run- Walk is a fundraising event designed to generate proceeds for student scholarships. Between 300 and 400 runners are expected to participate.
Judi Reilly, advertising coordinator, College Information, said the race is a joint effort between Marketing Foundations and the JCCC Foundation.
“It’s going to be here on campus,” Reilly said. “It will start by the field house, and will go around the outer roads back behind campus by Stoll Park then will loop around the train lot and come back to the field house.”
Runners interested in racing can register online for $22 and an additional $3 convenience fee. Online registration closes on Oct. 11, but anyone interested can register up to the day of the race from 7 to 7:30 in the morning. The cost is $30 on race day. Registering with a friend merits a special discount, and groups of three or more are eligible for further discounts.
College President Joe Sopcich is one of the runners planning to participate in the 5K. For every participant that finishes ahead of Sopcich, he will donate $1 toward the scholarship fund. However, despite Sopcich being 58, participants shouldn’t expect to blow right past him. In addition to running in the 5K, Sopcich runs in the St. Patrick’s Day Westport race and Father’s Day race at the Legends.
“I started running about eight or nine years ago and on my own, I’ll run four times a week,” Sopcich said. “During the week I’ll run at 6 a.m. and I’ll run 3.2 miles; on weekends I’ll run on Saturday and Sunday and each time I’ll run 3.2 miles. For the whole week, that’s almost about 13 miles.”
In addition to regularly running, Sopcich also has his own unique method of training.
“When I run, I run at a pretty slow pace,” Sopcich said. “I’ll run five minutes, walk two minutes, run five and walk two because that’s supposed to be really good for your respiratory and circulation.”
Sandra Moran, adjunct professor, Anthropology, also plans to participate in Lace Up For Learning. Moran has run in many different races over the years, including the Kansas City Zoo Run and Truffle Shuffle. She said one of the most important aspects of running in a 5K are good shoes.
“In my personal experience, good shoes are key,” Moran said. “You should never overlook your feet. My recommendation is to start slow, do some running, but intersperse it with walking and overtime, decrease the amount of walking and increase the amount of running until you get there. For 5Ks, especially your first one, it’s not about speed, it’s about finishing.”
Moran went on to say it’s important not to start off at full speed, especially if you’re new to 5Ks or not in the best of physical shape, or you run the risk of running out of juice too early.
“If you go out too fast, you really are going to not have enough to finish,” Moran said. “The important thing is at the beginning, even though you want to go really fast, reign yourself in.”
Contact David Hurtado, features editor, at dhurtado@jccc.edu.