Finished

Leia and Evan, above, reflect the spirit of the Half Marathon Challenge, after finishing the run on Sunday, September 11, 2012, at the Alamodome. Over 75 Trinity runners competed in the half marathon - many for the first time. The Dean of Students Half Marathon Challenge and Kayla Mire Food Drive has taken place for five straight years, coinciding with when the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon series came to San Antonio. Around 20,000 people compete annually.

More and more, the highlights for me are all the attention the Trinity runners receive. Running in our maroon shirts draws lots of attention and the people on the PA systems at the start and finish acknowledge our presence and participation. The runners get lots of encouragement along the way for representing TU as well. We placed second in the city-wide Get Fit Challenge large division group. We have been first and second in that before, but now must find a way to beat Incarnate Word!

I also really appreciate the growing family involvement of the program. We had many parents and some siblings participate and many alumni as well. What a commitment from families who fly in to town to run with their Trinity kiddos! I love that.

This year's program was a little smaller than the past couple of years, but it was as meaningful as ever for me. I love the connections that are formed between the runners and my own connections with them. You get to know people well over ten mile training runs. Students Lucy Cevallos and Morgan Jackson ran the race for all four years while they were enrolled here. Congrats to them!!

We also did what I call "boutique" runs this year, just to mix things up. These included a run at a local park, a "hill-hell-hall-oween" run that was brutally fun, and an iPod Shuffle run where we traded iPods to be inspired by the music other runners listen to. (And yes, we use our own headphones.)

Finally, it is pretty moving to see all the causes and individuals that people run for - whether to fund-raise or memorialize lost loved ones. Our charity, the San Antonio Food Bank is a great fit for our program, and we donated several hundred pounds of food and several hundred dollars from generous donations of our runners and Trinity community members.

The 6th Annual Dean of Students Half Marathon Challenge will be Sunday, November 17, 2013. It's never too early to start training!