Little Fifty

Beautiful weather helped jump start the inaugural Little Fifty running event Sunday. Top competition and stands nearly filled to capacity made the event even more successful.\nBoth the men's and women's races experienced many lead changes during the race. The Stilettos pulled away in the women's race to win by almost a minute over runners-up Alpha Phi, while Sigma Chi won a four-team battle to earn the victory in the men's race.\n"It went very, very well," said senior Brittany Van Trees, one of the Steering Committee members. "There were many different types of teams and we can just do some amazing things with this in the future."\nIn addition to a competitive race, a sizable crowd enjoyed solid weather for the event. Blue skies and 70 degree weather made the 50 lap relay race even more enjoyable for the fans. Van Trees said the weather also made the event more successful as the crowd was larger than what it otherwise could have been. \nThe relay-style race consisted of 24 men's teams and 20 women's teams with four athletes on each team. Each team had an option of how many laps they ran before handing off, with most running a lap or two between exchanges.\n"I think that after everyone worked out the contingencies and figured everything out, they realized what's good to do and what's not," Van Trees said.\nThe women raced first after an elaborate introduction ceremony. The Stilettos dominated the trials, winning the 4x800 meter relay by 20 seconds. Senior Whitney Bevins said the competition was much tougher than the papers showed. \n"We were behind in the beginning and our strategy wasn't working quite like we had hoped," she said. "When we got set in our pace, we were fine."\nBevins also said the competition should be what makes the event more popular. She said it could become like the Little 500 where athletes train year round for the event.\nSigma Chi ended on top after being pushed the entire race by Mercury, Pi Kappa Phi and Fiji. These four teams finished over a minute ahead of the rest of the field.\nEach team benefitted a charity of its choice and some members of the event won scholarships, such as Little Fifty Spirit Scholarship or the Unsung Runner Scholarships.\n"I can't think of anything that the money would be better used for," senior Sigma Chi runner David Gaunt said. "Winning the Little Fifty only makes it that much more special for us and for them."\nThe Little Fifty was intended to kick off the Little 500 season, even though it is two weeks before the running of the Little 500. The IU Student Foundation, who organized the event, worked to link the two. The first lap of the race was paced by the pole winners, Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Mu, of the Little 500 and tickets for the Little Fifty were free with Little 500 tickets.\nThe Little 500 race weekend is April 25 and 26.