Students who want to run wild or with the dogs are in luck. The 25th annual Great Rover Road Run is only a few days away sure to bring with it an onslaught of costumed pets.
Besides raising money for charity, the event’s goal is to promote health and wellness for both animals and humans in the LSU community.
The Rover Road Run, hosted by the LSU Veterinary School, will be held March 10. It includes four events, all of which are open to anyone who wants to participate. There will be a people-only 5k and a one mile dog run in which dogs are welcome to run with their owners if they meet the registration requirements.
There will also be a pet costume contest and a trick contest. Past years have featured tutus and dogs dressed as lions, so this year’s participants will need to be creative if they want to snag prizes and impress judges.
The races have a $25 race fee, and the pet contest has a $5 entry fee along with an additional sign up fee. All profits from the event will go to the SVM’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital Good Samaritan Fund, which helps provide sick animals with the care they need. There will be many opportunities for prizes, and all race participants get goodie bags and t-shirts.
Alison Mikes, second year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine student at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, is hopeful that the race will provide students with an incentive to be active.
“We’re in class a lot and we study a lot and we sit in a chair all day,” Mikes said. “So the run is a fun way to get a lot of people to come out.”
The run usually attracts around an average of 150 participants. This year, race organizers hope to get a baseline of around 100 participants from all parts of the LSU community.
“We’re really trying to reach out to people who aren’t just vet students,” Mikes said. “We’re trying to get some more students from all of LSU to come.”
LSU pre-vet freshman Annie Boutin and her dog Gertrude prepare for the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's 23rd annual Great Rover Road Run where dogs and their owners could participate in a 5k run, a one mile fun-run, a costume contest, and a best trick contest on Saturday, February 27, 2016 on Skip Bertman Drive.
