Whitman’s Green Leaders, a group of students on a quest to decrease the Whitman community’s carbon footprint, hosted an environmentally-friendly fun run on Saturday, April 21 in honor of Earth Day.

In an effort to minimize waste, the event had no paper registration or advertisements, no awards, no shirts, no bib numbers and no costs.

The event was organized, in part, to help generate excitement about Earth Day and foster an appreciation for the environment.

“It is an opportunity for everyone to go out in nature, to look at the Blues, the trees, the wheat fields and just appreciate the environment,” said sophomore Green Leader Keenan Hilton.

This is the first time the Green Leaders have hosted a fun run, fittingly called “The Green Gallop.” The Green Gallop is one of the many events the Green Leaders have put on in April in hopes of reaching out to students and spreading awareness about ways to be environmentally-friendly. Other events included Jewett Hall “green”-themed study breaks and a “green”-themed Coffeehouse.

The fun run started at 10 a.m. and participants had the option of running a 5K or 10K. First-year Chelan Pauly, who came up with the idea for the event,  hoped the event would appeal to a large group of students, including Whitman students without running experience.

“It’s super low-key. It doesn’t matter if you run cross country or you only run once a year, because we just want everyone to run and have fun,” said Pauly.

Sophomore Signe Burke was one of the students who dressed up in green and participated in the fun run. Burke was excited about the race course, which started on Ankeny and continued on a trail bordering Mill Creek.

“The course was absolutely gorgeous, and you could just watch the water as you were going,” said Burke.

Burke had a lot of fun running the race with her friends and thought it was a good way to celebrate Earth Day and raise awareness.

“Running is a great way to celebrate Earth Day. It’s easy, fun and environmentally friendly.”