Runners endured the brisk temperature on Saturday to raise money for a good cause. The first Kreepy Kent 5K, sponsored by Kent Interhall Council, raised $1,400 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Despite cold temperatures and course confusion, everyone was in good spirits knowing they were part of a charity event.

Kent State alumnus Seth Hutchinson finished the race first with a time of 16:09. Hutchinson ran track and cross country when he was a student at Kent State. It was an interesting and confusing course, Hutchinson said, but that didn’t bother him.

“Today is just for having fun and giving money to charity,” he said.

Although Hutchinson didn’t get off course while running the on-campus route, others were not as lucky.

After the two-mile-mark, several runners took a wrong turn and ran more than they should have.

Elliot Winiarski and Corey Damron, both students at Theodore Roosevelt High School, said they run a typical 5K in 19 or 20 minutes. Their finishing times at Saturday’s race were each about 27 minutes.

“This course was just badly marked and organized,” Damron said. He continued to say that because it was for a good cause, the race was still worthwhile.

“It was the first one,” he said. “There’s going to be problems.”

KIC President Traci Sanders said the cold weather could have been a factor in participation, but she was grateful that it wasn’t raining.

“I am pleased with the turnout and the weather,” Sanders said. “(But) both could have been better.”

At the end of the morning, the children at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital were the real winners.

“It was a huge, huge success for the kids at St. Jude’s, and 160 people signing up for our first 5K, that’s pretty good too,” Sanders said.

Contact room and board reporter Julie McKinney at [email protected].