Runners break a sweat to win the Ugly Sweater 5K

Kolby Spomer
Staff Writer

The Student Events Team hosted an Ugly Sweater 5K on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 5 p.m.

The 5K took place on the Performing Arts Center Lawn of the Minnesota State University, Mankato campus, and featured a route around campus where runners wore ugly sweaters or purchased MNSU branded long sleeve t-shirts.

Minnesota State University, Mankato students were able to register for free online at www.mnsuevents.com to run the 5K. The cost for public to register was only $10, or $15 on the day of the race.

A custom MNSU “ugly” long sleeve T-shirt was also available for purchase for $15, and will be as long as supplies last.

“I’m excited to see all the different ugly sweaters my friends wear. Plus, it’s a great time to burn off all those calories from Thanksgiving break,” said Kelli Sollin, Team Lead. 

There was free pizza, s’mores, and hot chocolate for the participants of the race. There was also a raffle and games prior to and after the run. A 20-minute holiday light show also took place on the Performing Arts Center Lawn at the end of the run.

The show featured timed holiday light displays to holiday music. Over 1,000 lights were used to create special effects with a specialized controlling software between four songs.

This light show will also be showcased later this week, so you can still catch it if you didn’t wanna miss out on some sick lights, brother.

“The holiday light show will be a first of its kind for MNSU. We are trying to bring a little of the holiday spirit to those on campus and during the run. Maybe this will encourage them to view the Kiwanis Lights downtown,” siad William Tourville. “We purchased this equipment with the intention use it over times of the year to bring more Maverick spirit throughout the year.” William Tourville is the Assistant Director for Student Activities. 

After the run, Kevin Korbel, our own Sports Editor here at the Reporter, had this to say, “It felt good to throw an event for the student body as a whole that was focused on health. Considering the conditions, I’m pretty ecstatic about the number of people who showed, with around 40-ish runners showing up. So yeah, I think I would call this run a success.”

Feature photo courtesy of Student Events Team.