My journey from a participant to an organizer for the AHS Fun Run

Friday, September 22, 2017

Participants running in the AHS Fun Run

Written by Abbey Sayles (Applied Health Sciences in progress) 

Looking to walk, run, or just have fun? This year, not only is Canada Written by celebrating its 150th birthday, but the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences (AHS) is celebrating its 50th anniversary and the University of Waterloo is celebrating 60 years of innovation!  I encourage you to join us at Reunion 2017 to participate in the 32nd annual AHS Fun Run to make this year of celebration one for the books!<--break->

As a Kinesiology student, the Fun Run has always been an event I look forward to attending each fall. I have participated in the annual Fun Run for the past three years and one of those years included running five kilometers in a Santa Claus costume to get the full ‘fun’ run experience.

As the AHS Alumni Advancement Assistant co-op student this year, I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to be on the other side as one of the organizers. Switching from a participant to an organizer has given me a different perspective of the hard work that is put into making an event successful – something I never fully understood as a participant of such a large event.

One reason why I love attending the Fun Run is the opportunity to integrate physical activity into my life while giving back to the UWaterloo community.  I get to meet students from other programs and faculties, and there is always a ton of positive energy spread throughout Reunion.  It all starts with getting alumni, faculty, staff, students, and community members involved in such a great environment! This is a great event to connect with old friends and to look at the current transformation that the University is undergoing on campus.

Abbey getting her shoe signed by Canadian Olympian Heather Moyse

My most memorable moment as a participant of the Fun Run was when I got my shoe signed by Heather Moyse, a two-time Olympic gold medalist. I started following Heather through her Olympic journey when I found out she was a Kinesiology graduate from the University of Waterloo. From watching her compete on television to having the opportunity to meet her at the event, was an incredible feeling. Every time I look down at my shoe and see the word “smile” with Heather’s signature below it, I am reminded that goals are achieved by hard work.  

Now that I am a part of the organizing team, my goal is to have this year’s Fun Run be a success, as this opportunity only comes around once in a lifetime! 

I look forward to seeing who will come out to revisit, reunite and relive their past memories here at the University of Waterloo! Hope to see you there!