Wharton Fun Run draws 300 runners

As the gun sounded, 300 people, including University students, West Philadelphia High School students, Philadelphia residents, and parents of University students began the Second-Annual Wharton West Philadelphia Fun Run yesterday. The run, which was sponsored by the Wharton Undergraduate Vice Dean's Office, began at the corner of 34th and Walnut streets, proceeded up Locust Walk, through the streets surrounding campus and finished at the entrance to Franklin Field. The winner of the race was first-year Economics graduate student David Brown, who completed the five kilometers in 15 minutes and 35 seconds and far ahead from the rest of the pack. "[I ran the race because] it was a challenge from a classmate," Brown said. Wharton Evening student Ken Wardlaw won the 31-50 age bracket, finishing in 17 minutes and 9 seconds. "I ran for the competition and the community relations," he said. "It was something to do before church." The $3000 raised from the event will go to the William Ross Scholarship Fund, a charity which contributes 25 awards of $500 to students at four West Philadelphia high schools on the basis of financial need and academic achievement, said Fun Run organizer Darren Klein. But Klein said that all the proceeds came from the several corporate sponsors, including Pepsi Cola, Wharton Reprographics, and CoreStates Bank. The money from the registration fees went to cover tee-shirts given to race participants. Whether to keep in shape or just have fun, students said they had a variety of reasons for participating. College freshman Shana Minkin said that her parents made her run. "My parents dragged me here, woke me up real early and made me come," she said. "It helps those with good academics go to college who don't have the funding," said West Philadelphia High School student Anthony Edmound. Overall, the race was considered a success by its participants and its organizers. Klein said he felt the event ran very smoothly. Klein added that the over 20 West Philadelphia High students were not charged registration fees and were placed closest to the starting line in order to show who the race was for. "I think there should be more [community] races," said Wharton senior Brian Fan. "I think it's great to have this with West Philadelphia high schools. Leave it to Wharton to put something like this together."

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