By Rachel Smtih | Reporter
Students and community members will participate in the Freshman Class Council’s sixth annual Gut Pak Run on Saturday morning.
“They told us to tell people no one’s ever thrown up doing it before,” said Eden Prairie, Minn., freshman Matthew “Chewy” Ocenasek, Freshman Class Council member.
The run will begin in front of Waco Hall and follow Speight Avenue to Vitek’s BBQ, where runners will eat a Gut Pak, a signature barbecue menu item, before running back to campus. All proceeds from the event will benefit Mission Waco’s Jubilee Theatre.
“Everybody can go out and just enjoy the day, get some nice food and do it for a good cause,” Ocenasek said.
Online registration will close at 5 p.m. Thursday, but on-site registration will be available the morning of the race from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. The race, which Ocenasek said is about two miles, will begin at 9 a.m.
Malone said the run includes a team category as well as four individual categories, which group runners by gender and the size of the Gut Pak consumed, small or large. Prizes will be awarded to the fastest runner in each category.
Shreveport, La., freshman Meredith Waltman, Freshman Class Council member said this will be the organization’s last major event of the year.
“I’m excited to get up on Saturday morning and hang out with all my friends,” Waltman said. “It’s kind of a big celebration for all we’ve done this year in [Freshman Class Council]. I think it’s just going to be a lot of fun to cheer on the runners, have a good time and raise some money.”
As a member of the sponsorship team, Waltman said she called local businesses to ask for donations, and many businesses were generous.
“The race is a fun event to raise money for Mission Waco, but I think the Jubilee Theatre specifically is a really cool program,” Waltman said. “I think it’s cool that we get to support something in the arts, which is something I think is overlooked at times with after-school programs.”
Waltman said Jubilee Theatre allows children to perform in and write plays.
Arlington sophomore Victoria Malone, a Freshman Class Council leader and one of the leaders of the sponsorship team, said a Mission Waco representative from Jubilee Theatre will attend the run.
“I’m excited for the teams who are competing,” Malone said. “It’s fun to watch teams work together and compete, especially when it involves running and eating food.”
Ocenasek said he is excited to watch the racers finish.
“The run isn’t that hard, and you get a free T-shirt and Vitek’s, and all the money goes to Mission Waco,” Ocenasek said. “It’s like a win-win-win. What else are you going to do on a Saturday morning?”
