Ready, set, go: Gearing up for this weekend's Tar Heel 10 Miler

Thousands of people will race in the 12th annual Tar Heel 10 Miler this Saturday. The race, which benefits the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA’s We Build People Campaign, runs through Chapel Hill and UNC’s campus.

Cary resident Ajantha Ramachandran has run the 10 miles multiple times and has served as a race ambassador for the last two years.

Ramachandran enjoys the scenic course of the Tar Heel 10 Miler.

“It goes through some of the older housing and everything, like all the historic districts and stuff in Chapel Hill and it’s just really pretty,” Ramachandran said. “It’s a little hilly, but it’s just a gorgeous course. It’s completely lined with trees. The spectators are amazing and the course support is also really good.”

Run by the Capstone Event Group, Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership and Fleet Feet, the Tar Heel 10 Miler uses proceeds to benefit charitable organizations since it first began.

“Well, from the beginning, I think they asked us to be involved in their awareness campaign,” said Shelley Earp, director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. “They wanted to have a race that made people aware of a couple of local charities.”

The We Build People Campaign, another beneficiary of the Tar Heel 10 Miler, is the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA’s annual campaign to raise funds for people in need, including cancer survivors and underprivileged communities.

Giving back to community organizations is something Ramachandran looks for in every race she runs.

“One of the things I look for in any race, whether it’s a local race or a travel race, is looking for the charities that it sponsors because it has to be something that’s meaningful to me and I think, unfortunately, cancer is something that everyone’s touched by at some point in life or another so that’s a good one that they’re giving back to,” Ramachandran said.

Other options for races include the Fleet Feet 4 Mile Run and the Double Down 14 Mile Challenge.

“You can do anything from the 10 miler to the double down challenge, which is the 10 miler and the four miler, but if you’re new to running and you just want to check it out, the four miler is an absolutely amazing option – it still takes you through some of the really beautiful course that they’ve mapped out and everything, and you still get the benefits of being able to go to the Expo, checking out all the vendors, you’re still giving back to the community and you also get the awesome post-race celebration,” Ramachandran said. “So, even if you’re new to running, this race has a little something for everybody.”

UNC’s club cross country team participates in the 10-mile race every year, with about 50 runners participating this year.

Junior Anders Pokela, president of club cross country, ran his first Tar Heel 10 Miler as a first year. Pokela looks forward to racing with the team again this year.

“We have probably 25 first-years maybe that we brought on in the fall and so like I said, I think it’s a really great race to do as a Carolina student,” Pokela said. “I think it really gets you involved with the Chapel Hill community and it’s a really unique race in that it winds through all parts of campus and takes you all throughout the surrounding Chapel Hill area.”

The support of charitable organizations makes racing in the 10 Miler this Saturday important to the cross-country team.

“That just makes it that much more important for us to get as large a participation as we can,” Pokela said. “The more runners we have, the more money that goes to these great causes.”

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