By Abigail Loop
Staff Writer
Baylor’s Department of Wellness and the Alcohol Awareness Advisory Board are putting on the first “Rethink Your Drink” 5K to bring alcohol awareness to the Baylor community.
The 5K is will be at the end of Alcohol Awareness Week, 9 a.m. on Oct. 25 at Burleson Quadrangle. Meg Patterson, director of the department of wellness, said the purpose of the upcoming race is to educate students about alcohol in a healthy way.
“This is something students should take advantage of, as it’s going to be a fun and popular event,” Patterson said. “Being healthy and also learning how to be healthy makes this a worthy event.”
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1,825 students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from unintentional alcohol-related injuries.
About 25 percent of students have academic problems because of alcohol abuse.
Patterson said this is the type of information they hope to push at the event, to try to have an impact on student decision-making.
The run will start and end at the Quadrangle and every quarter mile, there will be a statistic that supports alcohol awareness, as well as other visuals throughout the course.
“Research says that we take in information deeper when we’re active,” Patterson said. “We’re promoting another side of well-being and learning while we’re exercising.”
Registration for the 5K costs $5 and is available at www.baylor.edu/wellness. Registration will be open until Oct. 24.
Free T-shirts will be distributed at the run.
Both the Baylor and the Waco communities are invited to participate.
Keane Tarbell, associate director of new student programs, is a member of the Baylor Alcohol Advisory Board. He said they are hoping for many participants.
“We certainly are hoping that this is beneficial to the people that participate,” Tarbell said. “We want them to learn something along the way and be thoughtful on decisions about alcohol.”
Although this is the first time the 5K is being held, coordinators are hoping to make it an annual event at Baylor during Alcohol Awareness Week.
“I’m most excited to see if it’s something that students will be interested in,” Patterson said. “You don’t have to be a hardcore runner to participate. We want as many people as possible to come.”
To find out more about Rethink Your Drink 5K, contact Meg Patterson at Meg_Patterson@baylor.edu.
