University of Wisconsin-Stout’s University Recreation, Urec, is teaming up with the Wisconsin Intramural-Recreational Sports Association, WIRSA, and campus recreation departments across the state to host Run with Rec.
Run with Rec is a free, virtual run/walk event open to students, university employees, families and community members. Online registration is open now, with the event being held Sunday, April 19, to Sunday, April 26.
When registering, participants select a predetermined distance of 1 mile, 5K, 10K or commit to a personal goal. Participants can also download a Run with Rec race bib, virtual T-shirt or logo from the WIRSA website.
Before the event, participants can encourage others to join Run with Rec by tagging WIRSA on Facebook @wirsawi and Instagram @wirsa_wi and by using the hashtags #runwithrec and #wirsa.
WIRSA encourages participants to post their distance on social media once they’ve completed their run/walk, using the same tags and hashtags. Participants can also share photos and selfies during their run/walk, while exhibiting safe social distancing.
WIRSA plans to post all participants’ distances and photos on its Facebook and Instagram after the event. To be included in WIRSA’s post, participants must share their distances and photos by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 26.
WIRSA works to promote recreation, sport and wellness opportunities to its members and students. Run with Rec’s aim is to provide people with a physical and mental release, to get people out and active. It is not a competitive race, so no list of time results will be posted.
“With our students lacking a space to recreate, we are working to provide some virtual programming for them to help stay connected as well as provide an avenue for fun physical activity,” said UW-Stout’s Associate Director of Recreation Mackenzie Stutzman.
Along with UW-Stout’s Urec, other institutions partnering to plan Run with Rec are UW-Milwaukee, UW-River Falls, UW-Superior, UW-Whitewater and Viterbo University of La Crosse. More campuses are anticipated to join as the event draws near.
