Maggie Russell
Eleven years ago, Columbus North cross-country runner Morgan Neal organized the 5K on Turkey Day for her senior project.
Since then, senior members of the Bull Dog boys and girls cross-country teams have put together the details of the Thanksgiving morning event for their senior projects. Three girls from the regional champion North squad are organizing the 5K on Turkey Day.
“It’s been a tradition for the cross-country team to do it throughout our whole careers, and ever since I was a freshman, I knew that I wanted do something like that if I got the chance,” Maggie Russell said. “Coach (Rick) Sluder was talking to all of us about it, and I know that it involves a lot of leadership, and I thought that we’d all be super good with it. We tried to get as many people on the team incorporated with it, either volunteering or running.”
The event used to be held at Columbus Municipal Airport, but when that became unavailable last year, it was moved to the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgounds. It will be at the fairgrounds again this year.
All proceeds from the event go to Love Chapel.
“We’re hoping that whoever is running brings three cans of food to help donate to Love Chapel,” Russell said.
Macy Eaton
Russell is joined on the organizing front by teammates Macy Eaton and Carys Glyn-Jones.
“I just thought it would be a fun activity to do, especially our senior year, just to have fun doing a project together,” Glyn-Jones said.
“We wanted to do three people this year,” Eaton added. “We felt like we could each have a really specific part of it and really be able to dial in and have a really good 5K. Since running has been such a big part of our lives, I feel like it’s a good way to get the community involved and get a bunch of families involved.”
Carys Glyn-Jones
While Glyn-Jones moved to Columbus with her family from South Africa her freshman year, Eaton and Russell remember running the 5K on Turkey Day while growing up.
“It was really cool to have run in it in the past and now host it,” Eaton said.
“We grew up doing it, and now, we’re the ones holding it, so it’s super fun and a great leadership opportunity for us and just to get involved with the community,” Russell added.
