UW Alumni Association sponsors free virtual 5K run June 20

Posted 6/16/20

University of Wyoming alumni and friends are invited to participate in the first “Tracing Our Roots Virtual 5K Walk/Run” on Saturday, June 20. Sponsored by the University of Wyoming …

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UW Alumni Association sponsors free virtual 5K run June 20

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University of Wyoming alumni and friends are invited to participate in the first “Tracing Our Roots Virtual 5K Walk/Run” on Saturday, June 20. Sponsored by the University of Wyoming Alumni Association (UWAA), the virtual race commemorates the 125th anniversary of the association’s first meeting on June 20, 1895. The exact same date also is when UW’s school colors were inadvertently selected.

While the first meeting was significant for the alumni association, so is the story behind the colors of UW. On June 20, 1895, funds were unavailable for decorations for the UWAA’s first meeting, and two banquet organizers traveled to Laramie Springs to look for native flowers. They came back with a buggy full of brown-eyed Susans.

The alumni were so impressed with the brown and gold, and the beauty of the flowers, they decided to select these as UW’s official school colors. Today, faithful UW alumni and fans all over the world wear the brown and gold with pride.

The “Tracing Our Roots Virtual 5K Walk/Run” is free, and participants can complete the race at their leisure from any location at any time throughout the day. Registration can be completed through the UWAA’s run sign-up website by clicking there. This also allows participants to find fellow alumni and friends who registered in their area.

Special race bibs are available for dogs that participate with their owners.

“Add them as you would another registrant — just specify with the word ‘Dog’ after the first or last name when registering,” said Chrissie Henschler, UWAA public relations and engagement manager.

For more information, visit the UWAA’s website at www.uwyo.edu/alumni.

“In sharing the responsibility to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the UWAA is asking participants to maintain proper state and local social distancing guidelines — 6 feet of distance from others,” Henschler said.

The event does not support physical gatherings and is intended to support social connectedness through physical distancing, she added.

Participants are encouraged to wear their brown and gold.

Participants are asked to submit race photos by using the hashtag #125UWAA5K on Twitter and Instagram, and to the UWAA’s Facebook events page.

For more information, call Henschler at 307-760-3254 or email chensch@uwyo.edu.

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