WEST CHESTER, PA - The annual Rams Let's Walk: A 5K to Support Student-Athlete Mental Health Initiatives kicked off at 9 a.m. on September 19, 2021. The purpose of the annual race is to raise funds to benefit WCU student-athletes, providing new and additional resources toward mental health initiatives, raise awareness surrounding mental health, including suicide prevention awareness, and to provide mental health education and resources. Mental health and suicide prevention awareness are topics near and dear to WCU Athletics, affecting our WCU student-athletes and community directly. It's important to bring light to such sensitive topics in order to normalize the conversation, unify our community, and validate the necessity for providing resources and support to student-athletes.
On this beautiful Sunday morning, volunteers and runners began showing up outside West Chester University's Ehinger gym around 8AM. This event, held outside in a large area where safety and social distancing were a main focus, drew advocates such as the WCU Counseling Center and Lax-4-Life who had tables set up providing resources and information regarding mental health. The event had close to 200 participants in either the 5K or the mile walk. Members of some of our WCU varsity sports teams ran or walked including student-athletes from Women's Tennis, Women's Lacrosse, Women's Gymnastics, Women's Basketball, and Women's Softball. There were also approximately 60 volunteers from Men's and Women's Cross Country, Softball, Women's Gymnastics, Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball, and Women's Rugby.
The course meandered throughout north campus, and it was a fantastic day to run!. The overall winner of the Rams Let's Walk 5k was Assistant Women's Soccer Coach
Maddy Evans, who said after her run, "I really liked the course – It was fun to weave in and out of campus. The cheering student-athletes along the route and running the loops around the academic quad were highlights for me."
After the race, several gift baskets were raffled off from various local businesses and partners.
Race coordinator, Jessica Meakim, along with the event supervisors, Kelli Milliner, Lindsey Keenan, and
Rachel Daltry are very grateful for all of Rams Let's Walk's sponsors, donors, and everyone that came out to support such an amazing cause!
