It's that time of year again, when the ASU Polytechnic campus hosts its annual Dauntless Drumstix Dash, a Thanksgiving-themed 5k race and fun run.
The dash, a fundraiser for the Classified Staff Council Student Scholarship Fund, also includes a 2-mile walk and a half-mile kids' fun run. The event will kick off Saturday at 8 a.m. at the Polytechnic campus at Power and Williams Field roads in east Mesa.
"It's a great event and it brings sense of sisterhood to our chapter in particular," said Elizabeth Mower, a pre-veterinary sophomore and the president of the Sigma Alpha sorority, which has been involved with the dash since 2000.
The dash has raised more than $7,000 for the scholarship fund to date.
"This year, we expect the proceeds to be up to $1,000," said Ben Fasano, one of the organizers of the event and an accountant at the Polytechnic campus.
Over the last seven years, the dash has grown considerably as a community event. Organizers expect more than 150 participants this weekend.
The dash was first organized by former ASU Police Aide Walter Carter and two graduate students. They came up with the name because it was just around Thanksgiving.
"Students came to me and said that they wanted an event with community relations," Carter said. "Because I am a very experienced runner, we decided to do a run."
This year's event will start off with the kids' fun run, where children will be running alongside a person in a turkey costume. Because all of the kids will outrun the "turkey," they will be awarded with maroon-and-gold medallions.
Parents wishing to participate in the run or walk can enroll their kids for an hour-long activity hosted by the elementary education faculty in the Union Building.
After the run and walk, the nutrition club will serve the participants with apples, bananas and Gatorade, while the One Nation club, a Native American organization, will prepare fry bread for everyone.
Registration is $18 for adults and $5 for kids. On-site registration begins at 6:30 a.m. on the day of the race.
Reach the reporter at ljiljana.ciric@asu.edu.
