Pig Roast and Monument Avenue 10k on same day

This year, Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k, a road race often attended by University of Richmond students in the first week of spring, is scheduled for the same day as Pig Roast, the university's spring celebration.

The road race begins at 8:30 a.m., and the fraternity lodges open at 11:30 a.m. for Pig Roast Saturday, March 31.

"I'm under the assumption students have enough time to do both," said Susannah Taylor, fitness coordinator at the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness. Taylor coordinates a training program and is a fitness instructor for students who want to prepare for the road race, she said.

Taylor said there had not been a significant difference in the number of students who were registered in the training program this year in comparison to last year, when the events were on separate weekends.

Senior Alexa Gruber ran the race last year and her sophomore year, when the race fell on the same day as Pig Roast. After running the race, she had to rush back to campus to get ready for Pig Roast. She missed out on some activities before the lodges, but she did not think it was too much trouble, Gruber said.

A handful of people whom Gruber ran the race with her sophomore year are not running it this year because they want to celebrate Pig Roast all day, she said. Gruber said it would have been nice if the race had been considered when choosing the date for Pig Roast in order to promote a healthy, proactive running environment on campus.

There are many different factors that go into planning Pig Roast, Steve Bisese, Vice President for Student Development, said.

When planning Pig Roast, on-campus events have to be considered before off-campus events because it requires police and parking, he said. There are also two student development conferences in the spring that staff members who are involved with supervising Pig Roast have to attend, he said.

The date for Pig Roast is set a year in advance, Bisese said. He reasoned that there was enough time for students to run the race and attend Pig Roast.

"Saturday, March 21 would have been too cold, April 7 is Easter weekend, April 14 is the admissions open house and spring football game, and April 20 is the weekend before finals," he said.

Bisese said the biggest factor in Pig Roast attendance was the weather.

"People have joked with me in the past, 'of course you picked April 14 because you knew it would rain,'" he laughed.

Last year, when the Monument 10k was not on the same day as Pig Roast, Senior Chelsea Weinberg appeared on the front page of The Collegian, crossing the finish line with her mother. Weinberg is not running the race this year because it is her last Pig Roast, as a senior, and she wants to spend the whole day with her friends, she said. Weinberg added that her and her mother plan on coming back next year and running the race together.

For students who plan on running the 6.2 mile race and attending Pig Roast, Taylor said that students should hydrate and makes sure they have fuel in their body to sustain themselves throughout the day.

Contact reporter Madeline Small at madeline.small@richmond.edu