Bridgewater, Va. – On Saturday Oct. 10, Bridgewater College student athletes participated in the Walk To End Alzheimers and were able to raise over $2,000 for research.

Each sports team affiliated with BC took turns walking the designated route around the sports fields — where they cumulatively walked 550 miles. 

“I think it’s an important cause,” said senior swimmer Rachel King. “It was great to walk together and show our support as a team.” 

BC was not the only participant in the event, as Harrisonburg and the town of Bridgewater held their own walks as well. For BC, a table was stationed where all the athletes started the walk for donations, with all proceedings going towards the Alzheimer Association. 

“The earliest I think it started was when the volleyball team walked first at 9:40 a.m. and it lasted the majority of the day because each team had to take turns walking,” said first year Maggie Hite. 

Hite is a part of the cheerleading team and her squad walked the route at 11:15 a.m. The route started by the softball field and went down past the football field, looping back around, down East College Street and ending at the alumni parking lot. 

“There were pods for each team and only one team could walk the path at a time to make sure social distancing was enforced,” said Hite. “Bigger teams like the football team had to break up into smaller pods.The cheerleading team was only ten or twelve people, so we were allowed to all walk together.”

Not only did the athletes participate in The Walk To End Alzheimers, but they also participated in the Alzheimer’s spirit week. 

Each day of the week, the athletes wore colors according to the issue they were trying to raise awareness for. For example, the day before the walk, athletes across campus wore white clothing to support the fight to live in a world without Alzheimers.