8 October 2019
Jaycie Calvert
The sixth annual Trek the Trail is a 5k hosted by the UCCS Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, geared to runners and walkers alike. It is a two-lap course on uneven gravel trails and single tracks overlooking Colorado Springs. It remained the same course of the previous years, as the course winds its way through the bluffs near the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse and Pulpit Rock.
The race begins and ends at the fieldhouse and winds its way through the 13 plus miles of trails and paths that web their way through Pulpit Rock Park and the adjacent open spaces.
Trek the Trail is the official homecoming 5k race at UCCS, co-hosted by student organizations of Beth-El Student Nurses Association, Nutrition Club, Local Food Club and the Exercise is Medicine club. The 5K has raised well over $9,000 in the previous years for student scholarships and has helped to promote unity among the UCCS campus and Colorado Springs community.
This year, the race had the largest turnout with over 90 participants of all ages and strong community involvement. There were college students, alumni, residents of Colorado Springs, families and the occasional dog in attendance.
It was 48 degrees and overcast, but the weather did not dim the atmosphere of the event. A drone was in flight capturing birds-eye photos of the race, people were running in the official blue Trek the Trail T-shirt of the race, and cheers were heard throughout the trails in support of participants.
Not only does the race promote community involvement, but it also supports the principles of environment conservation and “Leave No Trace” by being a zero-waste event. Trek the Trail was also promoting health and wellness by encouraging participants to exercise. Runners and walkers alike were running with the goal to give back to future students, to support nature conservation, and to use the opportunity to exercise.
This homecoming tradition is different than the spring’s Bash the Bluffs 5k, held each year in memory of former exercise science professor Ed Burke, who passed away due to a heart attack while mountain biking in 2002. Both events, however, are geared towards health, wellness and community involvement, with proceeds benefiting UCCS scholarship funds.