On Sunday, November 5th, the Champaign-Urbana Special Recreation (CUSR) hosted it’s 11th annual Cupcake 5k.
Running the Race
Runners and their supporters showed up bright and early to register for the race. Registration took place from 8a.m- 8:45a.m and the race officially kicked off at 9:00.
Racers and others had the opportunity to purchase Cupcake 5k merchandise before the race began as well as some time after it had ended.
The race saw a large amount of people signed up before on-sight registration. That number being over 300 people.
Every runner that finished the race received a special Cupcake 5k medal. But the sweetest thing they got, was a cupcake.
CUSR workers stood at a table handing out cupcakes to each runner as they finished the race and came up seeking their reward.
Once all runners completed the race, CUSR held a mini awards ceremony. Runners who finished at the top of their category received a gold medal. This was in addition to the one they got for finishing and participating in the race.
DJ BJ Clark Finishes First
The first runner to complete the race at a whopping 16:57 was Champaign-Urbana’s very own DJ BJ Clark. Clark is a 40 year DJ-runner and has been running since he was just a freshman in high school.
The Prospectus got the opportunity to speak with him after his race and congratulate him on a job well done.
Clark also thanked and congratulated fellow runners for pushing him to run faster and work harder during the race.
Inside the Race with CUSR
The Prospectus also got to speak with two of the organizers for the event, Nikiaya Brandon and Christina Mott.
Brandon, who has been with CUSR for seven years, spoke about the scholarship the race raises funds for. She said, “We do this Cupcake 5k in order to raise funds for our scholarship, [um]. And the scholarship is basically, [um] something that helps our participants be able to get programs that we provide to them up to 50% off to make it affordable.”
Brandon also said that the idea behind the cupcake run came from them wanting to create an event that didn’t really exist in the community. As to why cupcakes, Brandon said, “Everyone loves cupcakes.”
The event itself was full of many different types of people and was inclusive to anyone on wheels or with a stroller. Many of the people running the race were actually running it as a family.
Mott said of her favorite thing about the race, “There’s so many happy faces. People having fun with their families, [like] it’s really turned into a family event where the parent might do the run but now we have the dash.”
Mott is referring to the dash that ages 1-2 up to 9-10 years old got to participate in once the main race was over. After the awards ceremony, at 10:00 little kids in and between these ages got to participate in the dash. They also got the chance to earn a medal of their own for winning 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.
Cupcakes for Everyone
Overall the event saw a great deal of success with having more than 300 participants plus on sight registration.
Everyone who participated got the chance to spin a prize wheel one time and everyone at the event regardless of whether you raced or not was allowed a cupcake.
For more pictures and information about CUSR and other upcoming events they may have you can check out their website at https://cuspecialrecreation.com/
You can also find the times of the runners at https://results.itsracetime.com/results.aspx?CId=17095&RId=1209
