Northwestern sororities, fraternities and athletic groups gathered Sunday on the Lakefill to run their own race to benefit those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings.
Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity hosted the event, dubbed “Run for Boston,” and raised more than $920 for The One Fund Boston, the official source of financial relief for the marathon tragedy.
More than 180 students chipped in $5 each to run. The unconventional race had students sign up as part of a team that ran 26.2 miles in total but required each member to run only a portion of the usual marathon length.
Pike philanthropy co-chair Demetri Elias said he was most proud of how the event brought together student groups, dorms and clubs from across campus, despite being arranged by a Greek organization.
“We’re just really excited that people came out and supported the cause,” the Weinberg junior said. “We’re excited that we can hopefully make a difference.”
Two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, killing three people and injuring nearly 300. An NU student ran in the marathon but finished before the bombs exploded. Nineteen Evanston residents were registered for the event but were also uninjured.
Students and administrators met at The Rock on April 22 to commemorate the victims with a candlelight vigil.
The idea to have another commemorative event on campus came from Pike president Kevin Gerner, a Weinberg sophomore. In less than 10 days, the fraternity organized and promoted the event.
“This is a relatively simple event, but we had a very, very low amount of time to set this up while it’s still in people’s minds,” said Alek Rinholm, Pike’s philanthropy co-chair. “We wanted to get it up as fast as possible. Getting everyone excited for that really quickly was most important for us.”
Along with supporting Pike in the Greek community, Weinberg junior Ben Reisman said he joined the team for Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and Kappa Delta sorority to “show our support for, first of all, victims of the Boston bombings.”
The event, which began at noon, had a .95 mile course around the Lakefill and was over by 2 p.m. Teammates were allowed to run at the same time, and most completed 3 to 6 miles.
Sophie Neff, a member of the club boxing team, said she did not think twice about signing up.
“It’s team bonding, and it’s for charity,” said Neff, a Communication sophomore.
