Steve’s Run organizers looking for volunteers

Published 11:59 am Friday, July 8, 2016

Organizers with Southwestern Michigan College’s upcoming Steve’s Run are currently looking for some help RUNning the annual race later this month.

Event organizers are seeking around 25 volunteers to assist during the event, which takes place at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, July 30, at the community college’s Dowagiac campus. Volunteers will be asked to serve as course monitors at various points along the 10K/5K course during the race, where they will serve as helpful guides as well as cheerleaders for runners passing by their station.

People wanting to help out with the race are asked to attend a pre-race briefing at 7 a.m. that day inside the college’s Student Activity Center, where they will be given instructions and allowed to ask questions about their assignment, said organizer Brent Brewer.

Following the briefing, volunteers will be driven out to their post to await the start of the race, which is expected to end around 10 a.m. Brewer said.

“Volunteers will be standing out there for about an hour and a half, helping to direct and guide runners down the path,” Brewer said.

Now in its 42nd year, Steve’s Run has become a major SMC event. Named in honor of Steven Briegel, the son of former SMC President David Briegel who died of cancer at 22, the race attracts hundreds of runners from around the area every year, with the proceeds going toward the Steven Briegel Scholarship and the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center for cancer research.

The race will once again take place on SMC’s extensive trail network, with the 5K run/walk taking place entirely on campus and the 10K course running through the college as well as the nearby golf course, cemetery and wooded trails. A 1 Mile Fun Run will also take place during the race, held entirely on paved roads.

The six-person planning committee, consisting entirely of staff with the college, reach out to volunteers both from within the college and the greater community for help during the race every year, asking local service organizations such as Rotary, Optimists, Youth Council, Young Professionals and more for assistance, Brewer said.

“We would not be able to do something like this without the community’s involvement,” he said. “It is quite a large undertaking every year.”

Last year, more than 75  people volunteered their time to help, Brewer said.

People interested in volunteering with Steve’s Run can register by visiting https://runsignup.com/Race/Volunteer/MI/Dowagiac/StevesRun, or can contact Brewer at (269) 687-5642.

“It is a really good time,” Brewer said. “It is a fun time, with a fun atmosphere to be around, and it is a great cause.”