On Saturday, Sept. 28, a herd of brave souls met by the Campanile with the intended goal to run a mile to Nick’s Burgers, eat two greasy burgers, and attempt to run back. While a plausible idea, these students weren’t just doing it for fun; these students were running for the Pre-Professional club’s event “Nick’s Burger and Bun Run,” as well as for the Children’s Miracle Network. All proceeds from the event went to the Special Olympics in Brookings.

“This is the first year that the run will have children with disabilities participating,” said Pre-Professional coordinator Melanie Bolton. “We try to keep the runs purpose medical oriented – last year the money went to one of our club members with Leukemia. This year, though, we chose the Special Olympics because our president works with the athletes and knew they were having their tournament here.”

In previous years, roughly 80 to 90 people participated in the event; this year they were hoping to break their record into the three-digit tier. Unfortunately, the rainy morning of the race discouraged many participants from. This, on the other hand, didn’t stop junior Tony Wacholz from showing up and running for a cause.

“I imagine the rain discouraged some people from showing up this year – it was probably the worst morning we’ve had in a while,” Wacholz said. “Although it was pretty cold, the club did a good job of getting people to run with prizes. They didn’t pressure you into running and made it a ‘no stress’ atmosphere; they weren’t yelling like you would expect at an event like this, and instead encouraged you to have fun.”

Some prizes included gift cards to popular places, baskets made up from the University Bookstore, flash drives and other useful miscellaneous items.

While some were drawn to the race with these prizes, others were drawn to the dress up competition aspect that the Pre-Professional club adds as flair. This year’s theme was superheroes and participants did indeed come through, despite the chilly weather. Outfits consisted of a full-fledged Clark Kent-Superman combination to a morph suit inspired Captain America completed with a shield – all just in time for Halloween. 

“The best outfit I personally saw, and the clear winner of the costume competition, was a Captain America with in a morph suit. I, however, wasn’t ever told about dressing up and I didn’t find out until I got there. I think they just need to advertise this more, and it might even bring in more people,” Wacholz said.

Nick’s Burger Bun and Run wasn’t only for Pre-Professional members: it’s open every year to anybody who wishes to run for a cause, and meet new people.

“Events like these that are held openly are a good way for new members to get to know the older ones, as well as meet completely new people,” Bolton said. “It’s especially good for the younger classmen to get involved and feel apart of the group. We do it at the beginning of the school year because it also attracts new members to the Pre-Professional club.”

No matter the level of comfort zone a student might be leaving behind, events like this help the student body grow closer together and can always be foundations for new friendships.

“A lot of groups/clubs on campus do a good job of keeping events like this going. It’s nice that they don’t always go to the same club. It definitely helps people get out of their comfort zone,” said Wacholz.