Chancellor's 5K Pushes Beyond $2 Million Mark for Student Scholarships

Ioana Patringenaru | October 20, 2008

More than 1,300 runners and walkers took part in the Chancellor's Challenge 5K Friday.
(Photo / Kevin A. Walsh)

At the sound of a signal, a wave of runners swept over RIMAC Field Friday, vying for the championship in UCSD’s 13th annual Chancellor’s Challenge 5K Run/Walk for Scholars. Some were there to support a good cause. Others wanted to stay fit. By the end of the race, all said they had fun.

The Chancellor’s Challenge raises funds for scholarships for undergraduate students. This year, more than 1,300 turned out for the event. “Are you ready for a challenge?” Chancellor Marye Anne Fox asked them before the race. The crowd applauded enthusiastically. “I think you realize that by participating, you are all helping our scholars succeed,” Fox went on.

From left: UCSD alumnus Sheldon Engelhorn ’72, Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and former UC President and UCSD Chancellor Robert Dynes.

View slideshow of the Chancellor's Challenge.

As of Oct. 20, the 2008 race had raised $203,305. The event has now raised more than $2.1 million since its founding in 1996, said Debra Neuman, UCSD’s vice chancellor of External Relations. Over that time, scholarships generated by 5K participants and sponsors have benefited more than 700 students. This year, Fox added $5,000 for every $50,000 raised as part of the race, and matched all new and increased gifts with discretionary funds up to $40,000. 

Also, the student, faculty, staff and alumni community each had a champion, who vied to best each other’s times this year. After a solid run through campus, UCSD economist Allan Timmermann crossed the finish line before staff member Bob Baran, alumnus Greg Wong and student Philip Napolitan. “I wasn’t expecting to win because I didn’t train much this year,” Timmermann said after the race.

He has been running ever since fourth or fifth grade, when one of his teachers set up an athletic program at his school, he said. He added he likes the freedom that comes with running. “You can just put on your shoes and figure out a route,” he said. “It’s a wonderful way to relax.” He likes the Chancellor’s Challenge, he also said, because it brings together many different constituencies of the UCSD community.

Brian Ball was the first to cross the finish line in 15 minutes and 33 seconds.

Click here to visit the Chancellor's Challenge 5K Web site.

Meanwhile, Brian Ball was the fastest runner to cross the finish line in just 15 minutes and 33 seconds Friday. Ball has just graduated from Biola University in Los Angeles County and is visiting a friend who is a UCSD senior. He trains with a semi-professional team in Ventura and was looking for a good way to start his season. “I’m pretty excited,” he said of his win. His goal, he said, is to reach the Olympic trials for steeplechase races.

By the time he crossed the finish line, Ball had opened up a significant gap with other runners. Student Sante Kotturi crossed the finish line in 16 minutes and one second, followed by Eric Martin, with 16 minutes and 45 seconds. “It’s a good way for the campus to come together and celebrate,” Martin said. “It’s a great cause.” He has been running for 12 years. “I just love the way it makes me feel,” he said.

Claire Discenza, a graduate student in neurosciences, was the first woman to finish the race, in 20 minutes and 27 seconds. She could barely contain her excitement. “It’s the first time this ever happened to me,” she said. “It’s fantastic.” It was her third year taking part in the Chancellor’s Challenge. Running, she said, is her favorite way to see places. Whenever she travels, she plots a running course and gets to know the city she’s visiting. “It’s such a wonderful way to be in nature,” she said.

Participants stretched before the race.

After the race, participants sat on the field and enjoyed a lunch of deli sandwiches, fruit, and various types of cookies and crackers, while winners collected their medals and sweat shirts and T-shirts. Doug Jorgesen, a graduate student in the electrical and computer engineering department, had removed a Viking hat he had been wearing before the race. “It’s just my party hat,” he explained. He said he was surprised at the runners’ speed. “It was really nice,” he said. The event concluded with Vice Chancellor Neuman thanking participants and sponsors. “I hope you all had a great time and please be here next year,” she said.

This year’s Chancellor’s Challenge sponsors included Fisher Scientific, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Darcy and Robert Bingham, Donald and Darlene Shiley, Alan Swinney '89, Arthur Brody and Phyllis Cohn, Brosoar Corp., Audrey S. Geisel, Dr. Seuss Foundation, Johnson Controls, Peter ’67 and Peggy Preuss, SIEMENS, The Viterbi Family Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation, Malin and Roberta Burnham, Manpower, the Foster Family Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation, PARSONS, Ellen C. Revelle, Vice Chancellor Penny Rue and Dan Welch, Vice Chancellor Deb Neuman and Paul Neuman, Vice Chancellor Arthur Ellis and former Vice Chancellor Joseph Watson and Mary Watson.