Runners will light up the night at this year’s Midnight Fun Run.
RecSports ran a pre-registration special Wednesday for those with Gator 1 Cards, drawing in a record 1,500 registrants in just 24 hours, said Marty Dempsey, the event coordinator and coordinator for facility operations under UF’s Department of Recreational Sports. Regular registration for the April 22 race will open March 23 allowing runners to participate in the 5K with the included breakfast and T-shirt for $15.
In April 2014, the event grew slowly from 1,000 participants to 1,400 before booming at 2,000, Dempsey said.
“Word of mouth definitely caught on,” Dempsey said.
He described the end-of-semester event as a cumulative celebration. “Whether it be a student going from freshman to sophomore, junior to senior or senior to graduate, Midnight Fun Run is a way for people to celebrate this transition in a very healthy way.”
RecSports doesn’t intend on placing a limit on the event’s registrants as of now, but there are still two months to go, Dempsey said.
“There may be a time where we need to ensure that everyone has the quality experience but also remains very safe,” he said, and added that these are uncharted waters for RecSports.
Alycia Loriz, a UF environmental engineering sophomore, has always loved running and took the first chance she got to participate in the Midnight Fun Run.
“I’m definitely excited to see how many thousands of us show up in April,” Loriz, 20, said. “I haven’t done a race or run here on campus, let alone at night or with thousands of people. It’s like a party.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 2/27/2015 under the headline “Midnight Fun Run draws record participants in 24 hrs”]
