12th Annual Turkey Trot promotes healthy community and wellness
Hundreds turned out for STC’s 12th annual Turkey Trot, a 2.2-mile run/walk held annually at STC, intended to promote a healthy and active lifestyle to community members.
Participants at the event included parents with strollers, children, pets, costumed students and health enthusiasts from all over.
Admission fee for the event included 8 cans of food donated to The Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, Inc. Turkeys were awarded to the top three female and top three male runners. Free t-shirts and goodie bags were also be handed out to the first 150 participants.
“It’s always a good time when we come out here and see so many people who want to join us this early in the morning,” said Kinesiology Department Chair Dr. Rebecca De Los Santos. “At the same time, we have a little fun and do something really wonderful for the community.”
The philosophy of the Kinesiology Program encourages student participation in a variety of activities, especially those involving new skills. The Kinesiology Program emphasizes individual sports and fitness that has carry-over value beyond the student’s school years.
The department offers a wide variety of academic, distance learning, and physical activity laboratory courses in the areas of physical education pedagogy (teaching), fitness, health education, dance, coaching, leisure studies, and specialized certification courses.
The vast majority of Kinesiology and Health lecture courses are transferable toward a B.S. degree in Kinesiology and Health. Additionally, the department offers a diverse range of physical activity laboratory courses (individual and team sports), which fulfill the required Kinesiology physical activity credits for a four-year degree.
“This race was to benefit the community. We are replenish the shelves for the Food Bank by collecting canned goods, and we do this by having the Kinesiology Department host a 2.2 mile run,” said Brenda, Ayala Kinesiology instructor at STC. “One of the reasons we keep hosting this race is because of the community. We started with 50 runners, then we had 100, and last year we had 300 runners. We have had such a great turnout because it’s such a great event for family.”
