By Bridget Sjoberg | Staff Writer
Freshman Class Council (FCC) provides food, philanthropy and competition each year when putting on it’s annual Gut Pak Run event for the Baylor community to enjoy.
Gut Pak Run is held to support Mission Waco, with all proceeds from the event benefiting the local nonprofit. It will be held at 9 a.m. March 30 beginning at Waco Hall. It involves racers running through the Baylor campus to stations where they consume either a small or large Gut Pak from local Vitek’s BBQ. The racers run a total of two miles from the beginning of the race to the finish line.
FCC is a group designed exclusively for members of the freshman class to gain experience in leadership and event planning early on in their college career. Holland, Mich., sophomore Luke Huber serves as a co-director of FCC and said the group plays an active role in the planning and coordinating of each annual Gut Pak Run.
“FCC plans the whole Gut Pak Run and facilitates all of the day-to-day operations,” Huber said. “We reach out to Waco businesses to help find sponsorships, we do lots of advocating and marketing around Baylor’s campus and our members will all be volunteering on the day of the event.”
Huber said he hopes that FCC and those participating in the race use the experience to learn about and support Mission Waco, as well as enjoy spending time with friends and strangers
“FCC hopes that its members get good experience at planning a large-scale event, and also that they become a little more knowledgeable about Mission Waco and why we are helping out,” Huber said.
Arlington freshman Chris Malone joined the organization in the fall after looking for an opportunity to build community and serve his freshman class. He looks forward to seeing the group’s hard work pay off during Gut Pak Run.
“I’m most looking forward to the race and for Baylor students to come together with the Waco community,” Malone said. “FCC has put hard work into planning by coordinating with Waco PD and Vitek’s for the event in order to keep runners safe. This year Gut Pak Run is set up so that competitive runners can still race but there is also the option to run for fun.”
Malone said he enjoyes FCC as a community to develop leadership skills as a freshman and find others who are also looking to best serve the freshman class.
“The most impactful part about FCC is being able to see how the leaders invest and care about us in and out of FCC,” Malone said. “Being involved in FCC has provided me with a group of people who care about Baylor and the community within the freshman class.”
Huber said registration can be accessed online at Baylor Student Activities website. The deadlines and prices for small/large gut pak’s : February 28 to March 28: $23/$25
Race Day (March 30): $30/$33
