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Aaron Martin
Jed Carlson-Superior Telegram

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Running for the cause

Yellowjacket baseball player Aaron Martin puts in his miles as part of the 2012 Pink Ribbon Run at UW-Superior.


In 2011 the UW-Superior Department of Campus Recreation had a pink treadmill, created by Cybex, brought into the fitness room at the Marcovich Wellness Center.  Cybex, to help increase funding directed toward breast cancer awareness and research, started a program called the Pink Ribbon Run.  In the month of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Cybex will donate 10 cents for every mile logged on the pink treadmill to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Last year, Yellowjacket Athletics took on the challenge of having someone from the department, either student-athlete or staff member, walk or run on the treadmill from the time the Marcovich Wellness Center opened until it closed.  The program was a success, thanks in part to Yellowjacket cross country head coach Glen Drexler having his team run part of their daily workouts on the machine.  With the cross country team electing to do their own treadmill marathon in 2012, other department members were going to have to step up in 2012 to accomplish the feat for the second year in a row.

And they did.

This year, from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 18 the Yellowjacket Athletic Department, propped up by the baseball team, kept the treadmill rolling from start to finish and logged 84 miles in the process.  For those into averages, that's 5.6 milers per-hour.

"It's an important cause and I saw what the cross country runners did to help our department in this last year.  I wanted our guys to be a part of it this year," head baseball coach Eddy Morgan said.  "It was only a half hour out of their day and most of them were happy to get involved and be a part of it."

As was the coach.

"I can't ask the players to do something that I wouldn't do myself, so I got on there and did my miles, too," Morgan said.  "I'm glad we did it.  I know when hear 84 miles raised $8.40 it doesn't seem like much, but if you multiply that times all of the pink treadmills that Cybex has out there that number gets pretty significant.  I'm proud that my staff and my team jumped in here and did our part."

The goal going forward is to, for the entire month of October, see a different department on campus take a full day and make sure the treadmill is moving, building up miles and raising money for the cause.

"We happily took on the challenge that was presented to us last year.  We were excited to be the first ones to try and keep the treadmill going for an entire day, open to close," athletics director Steve Nelson said.  "I was hoping that other departments on campus would see what we were doing to help this cause and would join us.  And this year, sure enough, there are other groups on campus that are doing the same thing and helping raise money for breast cancer research.

"We look forward to doing it again next year."

There is still time in October to get your organization or department signed up for the Pink Ribbon Run.  Contact Krisi Patterson in the UW-Superior Department of Campus Recreation at 715-395-4611.


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