Volunteers gathered along Zuma beach as early as 6 a.m. to organize what has become a Pepperdine tradition: the Run the Waves 5K.
Saturday, March 10, volunteers gathered along Zuma beach as early as 6 a.m. to organize what has become a Pepperdine tradition: the Run the Waves 5K. This event has been put together for the past eight years by Pepperdine’s Graziadio MBA non-profit organization Challenge for Charity (C4C).
Among other events, the C4C put together the Faculty/Student Olympics and the beach volleyball tournament “Beach Battle.” The purpose behind such events is to collect proceeds for the Special Olympics, among other local charities that include the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica and the Children’s Lifesaving Foundation.
According to one of the project managers, Ann Chen, the goal is to develop business leaders who are committed to social responsibility. C4C is one among eight other MBA non- profit organizations on the West Coast that holds fundraisers and this type of volunteer activities. It is through this friendly competition that each school raises the bar for one another and makes a substantial impact in its respective community.
One of the staff members, Joe Bagel, also provided some insight to the behind the scenes of this event. “We put a lot of organization into this 5K” Bagel said. “We started back in the fall contacting vendors and working with the city for permits. It really ramped up in January when we came back from winter break. That’s when we started pushing hard for sponsors, and getting the word out about the race. So it has been a long process, but definitely worthwhile.”
The runners themselves weren’t short on enthusiasm. Elizabeth Jackson, a Pepperdine Law School alum, showed up to the race ready for the challenge. “My goal was not to stop, which I did. But also to finish under 30 minutes, which I got done. That was the goal.” On her motivation to run this particular 5K, she added “Honestly, it was just Malibu and Pepperdine. And I can do three miles. Plus, I liked that it is for a cause.”
Another enthusiast was Frank Cuevas. “One of my friends goes to Pepperdine, so four of us came over. This is my third year doing this marathon,” he said. In regards to his motivation behind coming every year, he replied: “The atmosphere, the people. I enjoy running with a bunch of people. I think this time I improved because there are four of us, and I came in before them! Next time I have to try harder, because they said they are going to train more.”
According to participants, Run the Waves has been a success since inception. Every year, as it attracts more and more people, the staff looks to improve. “I am definitely looking forward to next year. This event has been going on for eight years. We had a great turnout last year. Probably the same or better this year. So we look to improve for next year. It is definitely a great event for us,” Bagel said.
