Las Corredores takes first place in Little 50

Las Corredores emerged victorious in the Indiana University Student Foundation's Little 50, a 50-lap running race open to any undergraduate IU student on Sunday.

The proceeds from ticket sales go towards working student scholarships. Las Corredores snatched the first place trophy in the women’s race, completing the race in 1:06:06.

Las Corredores is a four-member team composed of IU Running Club members, including Rachel Mehringer, Katy White, Lexie Greitzer and Sarah Boyum. Last year they placed second in this event.

“The team bonding is my favorite part about the experience,” Mehringer said. “Being out here with everyone, you see that everyone’s cheering for everyone, nobody cares what team you’re on.”

IUSF’s Steering Committee is largely responsible for the organization of this event.

It is in charge of the race day setup and all of the marketing for the event. It also pre-order the jerseys and awards for the runners and organize the jersey selection process once the teams have qualified. The organization also collaborate efforts with IU Athletics to make sure the event runs smoothly.

Noah Muller, a member on the steering committee, said that they have met all semester to prepare for Little 50.

One new development in this event is the all-electronic timing system. According to Muller, this is the first year they are using RFID tags on the runner’s anklets as opposed to stopwatches.

Megan Goelzer, a fellow member on IUSF’s Steering Committee, believes this new timing system makes it easier.

“It’s a huge change for everyone but it seemed to have worked very well, and makes it more accurate,” she said.

The Steering Committee takes a lot of pride in marketing and recruiting, Goelzer
said. It finds volunteers, and the committees are composed of more than just gunners.

Greek houses are a big draw for the event, but other organizations and clubs are welcome to participate as well.

The winner and IU Run Club member, Mehringer, said that they have been running
every day for the past few months for training. She said this win helped the training mean something.

Lauren Davis, another member of the steering committee, said the new electronic system is the same one used in the Olympics. It is the first major running event on campus that used this system.

“I think it turned out very well," she said.  "It is a technological improvement that will help it continue to grow in the future.”