UPDATE: After a thorough review of the impacts of the coronavirus, we've decided to reschedule Alumni Weekend 2020 to a future date. All of your friends here at UC Santa Cruz will miss seeing you this spring, but check back at alumniweekend.ucsc.edu for new dates!
Early risers can take part once again in the Alumni Weekend 5K Fun Run, which starts at 8:30 a.m. on April 4 at UC Santa Cruz’s East Field.
This fourth annual run is a chance for alumni, family, friends, staff, faculty, and community members to run through the rolling campus’s iconic spots. This year will also include a “mini Slug” 1K course for children, and organizers are strongly encouraging racers to wear costumes and Slug gear. As always, there will be treats on the East Field for all finishers.
The race will raise money for UC Santa Cruz student scholarships. Registration is available here.
For many participants, the Fun Run is an exercise in nostalgia as well as physical stamina.
“We’d like to transport ourselves back to school—a time without responsibilities except for grades,” said Kate Grant Bateman (Cowell ’98, American studies) after last year's Fun Run. She enjoyed the run, though she and several others got lost at one point.
“At Kresge College, you’re supposed to make a right but we went straight," she said with a laugh. "We went the long way—all uphills.”
This year’s Alumni Weekend festivities take place April 3–5. One of the highlights will be an onstage discussion between award-winning author Margaret Atwood and alumna and bestselling author Kate Schatz as part of the Baskin Ethics Lecture series. Tickets are now available for this event, which takes place at 5 p.m., Sunday, April 5.
