[Source: Author, Sungmin Stella Kim]
Fundraiser events are common throughout the year for a typical high school. But have you heard of or participated in a fundraiser in which students woke up early on a rainy Saturday morning to run 5 kilometers at the school campus?
The biggest fundraiser of the year for Northwood High School celebrated its 10th anniversary on February 9, 2019. The Timberwolf 5K, sponsored by Mike Dunn, Platinum Property Realty, is an annual event that brings the Northwood community together in support of over 1,100 athletes and their 25 teams. Its goal is to raise money to support Northwood’s athletic teams.
On the day of the big event, all of Northwood’s sports teams, including teachers, staff, and family members, came out to support by running the 5K together, wearing the Timberwolf 5K shirt. The run officially began at 8:00 a.m. after the choir chamber singers led us through the National Anthem, and the Track and Field runners were already ahead of all the other sports teams within the first few minutes.
During the run, the Track and Field runners took the lead of the run while many others already became exhausted from running up the hill and began walking. That proved to be a bad idea, because just when many of them were not even halfway there, the sprinkles of rain quickly turned to heavy pours in a matter of seconds. Everyone had no choice but to run through the cold rain, with their clothes and shoes soaking wet. But, seeing not a single runner give up from the unexpected weather circumstances conveyed how brave and hard working the runners were to run in the rain for this cause.
[Source: Author, Sungmin Stella Kim]
After what seemed like forever, everyone finally crossed the finish line, drenched in the rain by 9:00 am. After devouring their free plate of breakfast pancakes, the runners went into the gym where the sponsor Mike Dunn presented awards to the 5K winners with trophies. 2nd and 3rd place finishers in each 5K age division received commemorative medals while all 5K youth finishers received a finisher’s medal.
When asked about how she felt and thought about her first year participating in the Timberwolf 5K, Jenny Huang, a fellow sophomore athlete on the Northwood Girls Golf team, responded, “That was so traumatic, I thought I was actually going to freeze to death because of the rain. But I guess it’s good that this event forced me to actually work out for the first time in a while. Oh and bless the free pancakes.”
The Timberwolf 5K is a very well-organized fundraising event that unites the school together by encouraging anyone who is interested in running to support Northwood’s sports teams. Even though it is difficult to wake up early on a Saturday morning and run 3 miles in the rain, there is clearly a reason why the Timberwolf 5K is the biggest fundraising event of the year. It is a unique way of fundraising to support the school’s athletic teams and even helps those who participate get fit.
Sungmin Stella Kim, Grade 10
Northwood High School
