Hillsborough Community College hosted its 8th annual HCC Hawk 5K run at the Brandon campus in Tampa, Florida. With midterms this past week, many students do need an event to connect with their peers in a healthy and engaging way.

Both HCC students, Ava Badiei and Lauren Gay were browsing through the tents after receiving their swag bags, and they seemed eager to hit the pavement and run in the race.

Elizabeth McCullough who teaches Chemistry at the college organized the event along with students from AMSA (American Medical Student Association) and a leadership class at HCC.

Jayden Payne who studies leadership at HCC was there for scholarship opportunities as well as volunteer hours for the SLP (Student Learning Project). Part of her role with the event was to assist racers with swag bag and bib pickup for the race. Bailey Haas another leadership student shared her excitement for the event by adding knowledge of the microchips on bibs to clock the individual race time. People were allowed to run, walk, or stroll in the race. Also, she mentioned the school’s website and brochure had information about cash prizes for the winners. In addition, Michael Chatmajin was prepared to assist students and community members at the event.

Carson Cornock is the president of AMSA; he was thrilled and proud to raise $33,000 this year to assist with students’ education. He explained that the scholarships are each $500, and he wants to build more of a campaign to help the organization increase its funds and opportunities for students.

Another aspect of the campaign was not only to assist with funding but knowledge of mental well-being and physical fitness.

Along with the 5K race, AMSA conducted a poster contest that complimented the wellness theme.  Cornock shared that Valerie Carson, another professor at HCC Brandon, is a Co-chair and implemented the poster contest this year.  One of the posters displayed at the event was from Elizabeth Hammond who shared her inspiration for the piece: Childhood Obesity in America. When she worked at Adventure Island, and some of the kids who wanted to utilize a ride, she would have to decline their requests because their weight limited was not allowed—too high, and she felt frustrated about this, so she created the poster to inform the public about this issue.

10 minutes before the race was underway, to the tune of Chariots of Fire, McCullough rallied families, students, and friends of the community, thanking vendors like Hand and Stone which gave some free massages to some eager sprinters. As a crowd formed around McCullough with smiles and excitement, she continued with warmth and hospitality for participants to eat after the race and remind them of the giveaways, but most importantly—their needed nourishment.