Students from the athletic training program at Western Carolina University train for the inaugural “Mountain Jug Run for Research,” a 175-mile trek from Boone to Cullowhee. From left are Nikki Kennedy, Amanda Taylor, Kelly Robertson, Casey Shirey and Brandy Jones. (WCU photo by Mark Haskett)

Faculty members and students from the athletic training program at Western Carolina University will take part in the inaugural “Mountain Jug Run for Research” beginning Friday, Nov. 21, and ending Saturday, Nov. 22.

The 175-mile run will begin on the campus of Appalachian State University on Friday morning and end on the campus of Western Carolina University on Saturday, just before this year’s “Battle for the Old Mountain Jug,” the annual football game pitting Southern Conference rivals WCU and ASU.

The purpose of the run from Boone to Cullowhee is to raise funds for the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s Research & Education Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that annually awards research grants and academic scholarships in the field of sports medicine. Runners will include three faculty members and nine students.

They are, pictured above right, front row, from left, students Brandy Jones, Ashleigh Wilkes, Nikki Kennedy, Kelly Robertson and T.J. Moore, and James Scifers, athletic training program director; and, back row, from left, student Tammy May, instructor Ashley Long, students Amanda Taylor and Casey Shirey, and  Jill Manners, associate professor.

“In addition to teaching the students about the value of philanthropy, the event is providing an excellent service learning opportunity in the areas of injury prevention, proper nutrition and hydration, as well as management of environmental conditions in athletics,” said Scifers.

The “Mountain Jug” course will be run as a continuous relay, with each runner completing five legs of the run in five-mile increments. Participants, many of whom had never run more than one mile prior to signing up for the event, began training in August. The group, which has logged more than 300 miles per runner in preparation for the event, meets four mornings a week to complete training runs ranging from three to 13 miles in length.

The group has established a goal of raising $1,000. Donations to the run may be made in the form of checks, made payable to the NATA-REF, and sent to Jill Manners, associate professor of health sciences, at Room 134 Moore Hall, WCU, Cullowhee, N.C., 28723. All donations to the foundation are tax deductible.

For more information, call the athletic training program at (828) 227-2147.

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Last modified Monday, Nov. 10, 2008.