Harvard Junior Parents Compete in Marathon Run Around Campus

After a four-mile run over Junior Parents Weekend that took parents past the Law School, the Business School and the Quad, only one made it through the nearly hour-long jog.

This past Saturday, as a part of a slew of activities thrown for Junior Parents Weekend, the Harvard College Marathon Challenge brought parents and students together at 8:30 a.m. to sweat and pant around the campus.

“It’s an opportunity for parents to see the larger campus,” said Craig Rodgers, a counselor in the Bureau of Study Counsel and one of the coordinators of the event. “It also gives them a chance to talk to each other without an agenda,” he said.

While only a hand full of parents met the group at the John Harvard Statue, the starting point of the run, only one parent was left by the end.

“Every time you run, you feel better after, no matter what,” said Lou Genello, who completed the run with his junior son. “There was never a time when I finish a run and felt like I wish I hadn’t done that.”

As parents caught glimpses of the athletic complex, the river houses, and the Yard, Rodgers punctuated the run with information about the sites.

Rodgers also led the group past the 18th century house on Brattle Street that was once the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Rodgers told participants that running through the Business School can be rewarding for reasons beyond physical exercise. He said that he once found over $50 in different bills scattered around the Business School campus during one of his runs.

At the outset, Anthony J. Genello ’09 said he thought he would enjoy the event but bemoaned its early start time.

“It’s a good experience so far, a little bit tough to get out of bed, but I think it’s going to be a great experience,” he said before the run.

Another participant said that he enjoyed running outdoors.

“A lot of people run on treadmills, but it’s really not the same,” said David T. Escamilla ’10.