Running For The Environment

EcoHusky5000 To Raise Money For 'Green Projects'

By: Timothy Bleasdale

Posted: 3/30/07

Although the weather forecast for Sunday is overcast and a cool 50 degrees, there is little chance of rain - making it the perfect spring day to take a jog. However, if you're a bit more adventurous, you might head out to Horsebarn Hill to run in the 2007 EcoHusky5000 race.

The EcoHusky5000 - which was co-organized by Office of Environmental Policy (OEP) intern Katie Gherard, a 6th-semester environmental science and ecology and evolutionary biology double major, and former OEP intern Melanie Murphy - is a 5-kilometer road race with a course designed to "showcase some of UConn's most beautiful landscapes."

The race, which is open to all who wish to participate, was started last year by former OEP interns Nick AuYeung and Dan Britton as a way to transform their passion for running into a way to help green projects on the UConn campus. AuYeung and Britton designed the 2006 race to also provide a "venue for publicizing environmental initiatives and [raising] money for green projects," a tradition that will be carried on this year.

The race planners have not yet decided which program will receive the proceeds from this years' race.

"This year we are considering two potential projects," Gherard said. "One option is retrofitting an existing campus bus stop to run on solar power. We hope this would spur the university to further consider widespread alternative energy retrofits."

The other green project under consideration is the installation of recycling redemption machines in the on-campus apartment complexes.

"Currently there is only one redemption machine on campus, at the Co-op," Gherard said. "Not many students use this machine, but many travel off campus to Big Y and Grand Union to redeem recyclable cans. If the machines are available on campus, EcoHusky feels that the rate of recycling among apartment students would increase."

Murphy and Gherard said this would increase the university's environmental performance and encourage sustainable behavior while providing students with a convenient way to earn back a little money.

Old sneakers and tennis shoes will also be collected at the EcoHusky5000 for the Nike reuse-a-shoe program, which recycles old sneakers into materials for sports fields and tracks.

According to Gherard and Murphy, $1,000 of the proceeds from the 2006 race was donated to the Gant Plaza Green Roof project undertaken by the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

"Green roofs are an alternative to traditional storm-water management techniques and provide greater filtration, flood prevention, thermal efficiency and enhance the aesthetic value of the building," Gherard said.

The top overall male and female runners for all age classes will be awarded $100 in cash and $40 gift certificates to Willington Pizza, according to Gherard and Murphy. A choice of gift certificates will also be awarded to the top three runners in each age group: 0-to-18, 19-to-29, 30-to-39, etc.

"All of the gift certificates were donated by popular local businesses including Angelino's, the UConn Co-op and Tequila Cove," Gherard said.

Other business donating gift certificates include the Mansfield Movie-Plex, Aztec Sun, DP Dough, Kathy John's and Chuck & Augie's.

The race begins at 10 a.m., according to Gherard and Murphy. Registration starts at 9 a.m. in the Arena parking lot on Horsebarn Hill and costs $5 for students and $15 for non-students.