Teter Meter 5K benefits Hoosier Hills Food Bank

Despite the previous evening’s Halloween festivities, roughly 30 athletes participated in the first Teter Meter 5K on Saturday.

The run, organized by the Teter Quad student government, was an “opportunity to run a competitive race for fun and for free,” said junior Amber Taylor, head of the Teter Meter group.

To participate, students donated a can of food to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.
“The Food Bank makes packages for families, homeless shelters and any other non-profit organizations that need food,” Taylor said.

As a charity event, the run gave participants the opportunity to exercise in a race-like setting without a large entry fee.

“It’s all about being healthy,” Taylor said. “I did sports in high school, but when I got to college, I found it hard to exercise. It wasn’t until I started training competitively that I noticed improvement, and this is an opportunity for others to do the same.”

Unfortunately, due to some routing problems, what was intended to be a 5K turned into nearly a five-mile run, some of the athletes said. The Teter Meter 5K is intended to be an annual event, and Taylor hopes to improve many aspects of the event next year.

“Next year, I hope to train the volunteers to send runners in the right direction and put up bigger signs,” Taylor said.

Taylor also said she felt the turnout was low because the event was the morning after Halloween, and she said it will be more successful in the future.

The course was intended to circumnavigate much of campus before ending back at Teter Quad.

“It was a really nice course with a nice range of scenery,” first place finisher Joey Slaughterbeck said.

Slaughterbeck, a junior, also complimented the strategic variance in hills and straightaways.

The additional distance did not affect some of the runners’ moods.

“I ended up running at a faster pace for a longer course, and I feel everyone did really well,” Slaughterbeck said.

Likewise, first place female finisher and freshman Caitlin Engel, a member of the IU cross country team, felt she ran well for such an early-morning event.

“It was a fun, hilly course, especially for 10 a.m., and it was fun to compete as well,” Engel said.