The Mercer Running Club hosted its first annual Milk Mile race in front of the Mary Erin Porter residence hall on Saturday, August 30 to raise funds for the young club. While the run had to be postponed from early Saturday morning to around noon due to rain, participants still showed up for the lactose-laden laps.
The daring dairy display was a first for the two-year-old new club, which aims to raise support for the sport of running and to encourage members to live a healthy and active lifestyle. As members began to show, six runners eventually gathered at the starting line on College Street Plaza.
The rules of the event were relatively simple: before each lap, the individuals would have to down a pint of whole, low-fat or goat's milk. Immediately after, the runners would dash down the brick road, turn around near Willet Auditorium and sprint back to the start line. The track totals about a quarter of a mile and about 10 feet of elevation gain on each lap. Another helping of homogenized goodness would have to be downed by the willing participants before they began again down the road, repeating four times until the mile was up and half a gallon milk was consumed.
Spirits were high beforehand, full of nervous laughter and milk-related memories. Then, they were off.
The first lap went relatively smoothly as the group stayed in a pack, biding their time before the real competition was on. The second lap claimed the challenge’s first victims. After collapsing in the grass near the start line after the halfway mark, Aknara Foneseka ‘29 called it quits. “I feel so bad and I didn’t even get a half of a mile,” she said.
Things took a turn for the worst nearing the end of the third lap as Lauren Peters ‘27 could not keep the lactose lurches down, retching into the grass aligning the street. Sebastian Blanco ‘26 and Charlie Minton ‘27 soon followed. With over half the squad now squatting rather than sprinting, Cody Huffhines ‘29 was able to take first place in the inaugural race, with an "udderly" unbelievable time of seven minutes and 49 seconds.
Huffhines’ juggernaut performance drew admiration from his crowd of vomiting viewers, who commended him as “the GOAT,” a compliment curiously bereft of bovine bias. As the victor, Huffhines received a t-shirt that reads "got speed? milk mile champion," and a cereal box of his choice. He was offered a complimentary gallon of milk to go with it, but declined.
More information about the running club’s activities, events and volunteer opportunities can be found on their Instagram.
Jacob Hossler '28 is an English and Law and Public Policy double major at Mercer University. While not serving as the Sports Editor at The Cluster, he enjoys running, writing and photography.
