Although it has been a tradition in Muskegon for over three decades, this year Ross Medical Education Center in Roosevelt Park decided to participate for the very first time in the Mercy Health Seaway Run! Staff, students, and faculty from the Ross campus joined more than 3,000 local individuals that participated in the 34th annual Mercy Health Seaway Run on Saturday, June 27 in downtown Muskegon. The Mercy Health Seaway Run includes a half marathon, 15K race, 5K race and Community Fun Walk, and is held every June in Muskegon. One of the biggest sponsors of the event, Mercy Health, also happens to be the top employer used by Career Services in Roosevelt Park!
The campus staff, faculty, and students were thrilled to be able to be a part of such a fun local event. It all started when Amanda Holman, Career Services Students Services Representative, put together a team to volunteer at this event. She attended meetings and kept in close contact with the organizers to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Amanda rallied in the troops and had everyone present at 6:00 a.m. on the Saturday morning of the race. The campus volunteers organized shirts, checked participants in before the start of the race, and worked together with other agencies and individuals in making the event a success. When Amanda was asked why this event was so important in terms of the Roosevelt Park campus volunteering, she shared, “it is a really good way to solidify our partnerships with Mercy Health Partners and the United Way as they are the main sponsors for this event.” Everyone that participated had a great time and was able to network with other agencies as they worked to build stronger ties within their community.
To go along with the race event, Amanda decided to do something with students called “Track Your Laps.” All of the classes each came up with team names and walked laps around the building for points every day. Each class had a poster for their team where they were able to track their class participation and see where they stacked up against the other classes. They competed against each other and the staff for participation points. There were three available blocks of time to walk each day and classes were encouraged to get out of the classroom, get outside, and get a little exercise.
It was a great opportunity for the students to motivate each other, as well as get to know the students in the other classes and even the staff members a little better. Everyone at the campus had a lot of fun with the event and really appreciated the opportunity to do something a little different. The weather even cooperated just about every day, which made it a lot more fun!