Pre-registration due Feb. 25 for Founders Day 5K

Office of Communications & Marketing |Northeastern State University
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- In observance of Founders Day at Northeastern State University, the NSU Foundation will host the fourth annual Founders Day 5K run on March 2.

"The Founders Day 5K has become one of the biggest runs in the area," said Eric Pool, security administrator of IT infrastructure and co-director of the event with Libby Rogers, director of Student Health Services. "This year we are anticipating between 700 and 800 runners. Those are numbers you would expect to see at a 5K in Tulsa, so our event is significant."

Pre-registration ends Feb. 25 and is $15 per person. Free T-shirts are given to the first 600 registrants. A 1K fun run is also scheduled. The 5K race is held the Saturday before Founders Day on March 6.

Race day registration costs $20 and is 7:30-8:30 a.m. with the 5K run beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Centennial Plaza. The fun runstarts at 9 a.m.

The first male and female to finish and the top three finishers in each male and female age category receive awards. Age categories are in three-year increments to age 70-up. Door prizes are given away after the race.

Proceeds from the Founders Day 5K fund a scholarship through the NSU Foundation. Pool said he enjoyed doing non-profit work when off the job and invited area runners to register.

"The fee is inexpensive, and you can meet a lot of students, faculty, staff and administrators from NSU," he said. "A lot of the runners hang out and socialize before and after the race. It can be a great time for alumni and people in the community."

For more information or to register for the race, call the NSU Foundation at 918-444-4200 or Pool at 918-444-5881.

Founders Day is observed each March 6 to commemorate the day the Oklahoma legislature purchased the Cherokee National Female Seminary and created the Northeastern State Normal School in 1909.

The NSU Founders Day 5K is one of several events hosted on the Tahlequah campus to commemorate the creation of Northeastern State Normal School and pay tribute to the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council, which authorized building the male and female seminaries at Park Hill in 1846.

The female seminary was destroyed by fire in 1887 and rebuilt near Town Branch Creek at the north end of Tahlequah two years later. Known today as Seminary Hall, the historic edifice is distinguished by its iconic clock tower.This clock towerhas been replicated at NSUs branch campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow.

The Founders Day 5K and 1K fun run are held around Centennial Plaza south of Seminary Hall.