Runners pictured at the start of the Love Run, Photo Creds: Charlie Stumb, Yearbook
Lillon Henline, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn
The third annual Love Run, hosted by Student Council (StuCo), serves as a community gathering to support a good purpose while promoting awareness through fundraising. The 5K race began to honor Elayne Bishop who battled breast cancer. The competition maintains its tradition as an important community event, particularly this year in which all funds were directed toward Ms. Keri Hemrick, a teacher at Watauga High School who is currently undergoing breast cancer treatment. The event has become a meaningful tribute for the community as it demonstrates the generous and caring spirit that defines the Love Run.
Stacy Eggers, sophomore class president of StuCo, was responsible for planning the Love Run for the 2024-2025 school year. While the Love Run occurs one day a year, Eggers spent three months prior perfecting the event, striving to make it as special as in the past years. This year, Stacy faced a major curve-ball: the 5K course used in the past was destroyed by Hurricane Helene.
“We usually do it on a cross-country course, but the bridge on the course was destroyed during Hurricane Helene, so we had to rethink and improvise to make a new plan,” said Eggers. “So, Coach Mac and I made a whole course around campus. It was a whole lot of work."
Despite the change of the course, the turn-out this year hit a record high compared to last year's race, accumulating around 150 runners. Eggers helped promote these numbers in various ways and hopes the numbers continue to grow moving forward.
“About three months ago, I made flyers, posters, and a website for the race,” said Eggers. "Student Council posted on social media and created a sign up Google form.”
While persistent promotion of the Love Run helped improve participation, Eggers wanted to honor the reason behind the race. Participants were especially touched that all proceeds would directly benefit a member of the Watauga community. The event raised more than $3,000.
“I think that it was more impactful this year since the proceeds were going to someone at our school, a teacher. It was really encouraging. I got a lot of people to sign up because it was for a specific cause and it made a huge impact on our school, so I think that was great,” said Eggers.
Participants lined up to begin the race, many wearing the same shirt with the Love Run logo imprinted on the front. The logo stands for more than just the race. It also displays the support and strength of Watauga County.
“To show our support, we had long-sleeved shirts, we gave everyone that showed up to the race, and they had the love logo on them,” said Eggers. It was just a great opportunity for participants to show their love and support. The generosity was just extremely great.”
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