The morning of Saturday, Nov. 22 brought brisk temperatures, rain, leaves scattered across campus and a 5K run to raise awareness for rare diseases at the University of Rhode Island.
URI’s chapter of the National Organization for Rare Disorders organized the race titled “Run for Rare,” which followed the URI Rhody Run Route. About 45 tickets were sold for the race, according to second-year student Lauren Junge, NORD’s president.
“We didn’t plan on a rain day, and so last minute, we were like, ‘What are we going to do?,’” Junge said. “But people were prepped to come rain or shine, so it was really nice.”
Since The Good 5 Cent Cigar wrote about NORD last semester, the organization has grown, according to Junge. In particular, she noted that there was an increase in the number of officer positions within the club, now including an outreach chair.
“So we have more officers on our team, we’re working on getting speakers, like staff on campus to talk, and we’re just planning on doing a Rare Disease Day party or celebration,” Junge said.
Junge also explained that NORD will typically hold about three larger events per year.
“We had this fundraiser; that’s our first big event,” Junge said.
Those who attended the 5K showed up with enthusiasm and had a positive experience overall, according to Junge.
Two of the runners, students Nathan Barretts and Molly Croes, said that they were glad to run this 5K.
“Considering it was raining, I think we got a pretty decent turnout,” Barretts said.
The organization has expanded and gained “more traction,” according to Croes, a member of NORD.
“I know when it was starting up last year, [it was] a lot smaller,” Croes said. “Now, there’s more members to it.”
If students are interested in joining NORD, they are able to check the club’s Instagram page, @uristudentsforrare, for updates, or reach out to a member to join the GroupMe, according to Croes. Runners mentioned that Junge has a lot of information about the group for prospective members, and Barretts noted that Junge had visited one of his classes to talk about the club. Other runners, when asked how they heard about NORD, said that they joined the email list through RhodyFest.
NORD is looking to possibly make this an annual event, along with holding others in the future, according to Croes. At the finish line, other runners also expressed interest in wanting to continue their involvement with the club’s activities.
“This is the first event we’ve done with them, but I would definitely want to do more,” said one runner. “I think that the run was great [and] we had a fun time.”
The race finished near Lippitt Hall, where runners were able to gather inside after the race to cool down away from the rain.
