Scroll down to view an audio slideshow of the race.

More than 430 registered to run the Bowman Cup this year, the highest number of participants the Student Recreation and Wellness Center has ever seen for the 5K race.

Runners faced the possibility of slippery portions of the course and grey, cloudy skies loomed overhead, threatening a 10 percent chance of rain.

The race was prefaced with instructions from Kylan Ward, 2008 Homecoming queen, and as she shot the gun, a mass of runners shot out from behind the starting line and took up a quick stride.

David Lawson, junior advertising major and special events assistant at the SRWC, said the race was the easy part and the hardest parts were the intricate details that came with making it happen.

“We had over 400 people pre-registered, so we had to make up bags for each of them, and there was a lot of basic setup that people wouldn’t normally think about,” Lawson said.

One such detail was coordinating assistance from city officials to direct street traffic on open parts of the course to maintain safety for the runners. There were also employees from the SRWC in place just in case the slippery course led to an accidental fall.

“The course was slippery and the hills were a little challenging, but it was definitely a good course to run,” said Zach Baker, first-year masters of accounting student.

Another student found the course to be slippery, but highly recommended checking out the course map before running.

“They have the course map on the Internet, so I just ran that all week,” said Hannah Henson, freshman hospitality management major.

“I really like that we went through the woods at the end because it was really pretty, but it was really hard because it was all uphill,” said Christine Pace, junior art education major.

She said she was worried about the wet leaves, but didn’t fall.

In addition to coordinating people in places throughout the course was the assistance of two gentleman holding tiny devices just at the finishing line to read runners’ numbers. That device is what assisted the SRWC in being able to provide runners with both overall results and the results for sex and age categories.

Just after the racers were greeted with applause, cheers and the beep of two tiny devices, they were able to enjoy free five-minute massages and a continental breakfast.

“A lot of the food was donated from Acme, Giant Eagle and Sirna and Sons Produce in Ravenna,” Lawson said. “We only had to pick up a few other things.”

After enjoying a bite to eat, participants stuck around for door prizes as well as an awards ceremony to congratulate the top runners overall and each sex and age categories.

Contact student recreation and wellness center reporter Robert Checkal at [email protected].