Anticipation filled Loyola’s quad Friday night, March 13, as students lined the path from Alumni Memorial Chapel to Diane Geppi-Aikens Field, cheering and waving Irish flags before Loyola’s second annual Ginger Run. But when the airhorn sounded, things got hectic.
Three participants were recorded falling, with one sustaining a serious injury early on in the race. Cam Ward ‘27 says he remembers the exact moment that led him to the emergency room by the end of the night.
“I broke my right collarbone. I just wanted to win a prize, but it’s honestly not worth it, and I probably won’t run again next year,” Ward said.
A small first-place prize was awarded to the first male and female to cross the finish line. The stakes of the race were low, but the intensity was not.
Barstool Loyola, a student-run social media account, organized Loyola’s first annual Ginger Run, a viral event where redheads dash through cities or campuses to celebrate Irish heritage and culture around St. Patrick’s Day. Due to positive feedback, the event returned this year.
Nate Thaler ‘27 spearheaded this year’s event.
“I saw other Barstool accounts doing it and thought a Ginger Run at Loyola would be fun for the student body. It was a really fun event last year with a huge turnout, so we thought we’d make it an annual thing. I think it’ll be a tradition for a while here,” Thaler said.
Falling on the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day, a popular time for Loyola students to host visiting friends, the race drew a large crowd.
Tommy Sottosanti, a visiting student from New Jersey Institute of Technology, was impressed with the turnout and spirit.
“It felt like the whole school showed up with everyone packed along the sides of the quad. I checked my phone right after the race, and people were already spamming social media with the videos and pictures of people falling,” Sottosanti said.
Currently, on the Barstool Loyola Instagram, the clip with the most engagement from this year’s ginger run captures one runner falling face-first and another runner tripping over him and landing, also on his face. All the while, the rest of the gingers continue in pursuit of the finish line.
On Barstool Loyola’s Instagram account, posts regarding the Ginger Run this year alone are receiving nearly 4,000 likes and just over 1,100 shares combined.
As the Ginger Run continues to grow in popularity, engagement, and turnout, students and Barstool Loyola look forward to the years ahead, hoping to preserve this new tradition while making it a safe experience for everyone.
Thaler acknowledged how crazy and dangerous the run ultimately was, noting that crowd control played a large part in it, as did the tight perimeters of the course.
“I think everyone gets so excited to cheer on their friends that they try and get close to the runners, but that just makes it crowded, and the gingers start tripping over each other. For next year, we’re thinking about putting up barriers to create more space between the crowd and the runners,” Thaler said.