The fifth annual Bowman Cup 5k Race/Walk proved to be a big success on Saturday.

Participants started at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center for the five kilometer loop race.

Winning for the men was alumnus David Mooney, with a time of 15:47; and for the women, alumna Colleen Harrison with a time of 18:21. Both were awarded $75.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and everyone seemed to have a great time,” said Jason Hawk, junior advertising major and student marketing coordinator for the Rec center.

Businesses such as Quizno’s Sub, Starbucks and Ray’s Place provided free cookies, coffee and chili for a post-race celebration. Runners could also receive complimentary massages, which went over big with everyone, Hawk said.

While waiting for race results, runners entered raffles and received free gift bags.

“We had a bunch of businesses donate things like movie passes, bowling passes and T-shirts,” Hawk said. “We got a lot of positive feedback – most races don’t give out all this for free.”

The event began at 8:30 a.m. and lasted until about 10:00 a.m. with the rec center being open to all participants afterwards.

Despite worries that attendance would be down because of the early Homecoming, there was a drop of only 29 people from last year.

Many people were also concerned that the Buckeye Half-Marathon held in Akron yesterday would detract runners, Hawk said.

For this reason, Hawk and the marketing team for the Department of Recreational Services went all-out in promoting the event to students, as opposed to older runners who would be more likely to run the Buckeye Half-Marathon. This included putting up flyers, going to residence halls and advertising at the Homecoming bonfire.

“We would physically talk to people,” Hawk said. “We just tried to get as many people as possible.”

The efforts were worth it as they were able to draw a crowd with only three weeks of school to promote it.

Hawk expects the Bowman Cup to be just as big next year for the sixth annual running of the event.

Contact Student Recreation and Wellness Center reporter Sean Ammerman at [email protected].