The Spank Blasing 10thannual scholarship fundraiser took place Saturday, April, 21, and saw about 500 student and community participants.
The walk takes place in different lengths, the 5k, 10k run and two-mile walk. To register an adult the cost is $25, and the student discounted cost is $10. Around 50 students are participating, said Todd Kelly, associate athletic director.
The event will last until the last runners and walkers have finished, he said.
The 10k took runners south on Troy Avenue and then north onto Massari Road. Then the path went across the freeway and west on Bartley Boulevard into an off-road path behind the shopping center towards Jerry Murphy. The race turned on Walking Stick Boulevard and ended at the ThunderBowl.
The 5k circled from the starting line south on Troy Avenue to Alamosa heading west to Bartley, turned west on Walking Stick Blvd, and ended at the ThunderBowl. The two-mile walk circleed around Troy to Alamosa before returning to the football field. The Pueblo County Sheriff was located at intervals all along the path of the run, according to the map and legend.
This event was named Spank Blasing for the last five years. The athletic director and coaches will decide what students the scholarship benefits and will end up being distributed among 15 varsity sports, Kelly said.
“Our coaches are the ones that give out the scholarships,” he said.
There was approximately 100 student-athlete volunteers for this year’s Spank Blazing, Kelly said, and their jobs were to hand out water, assist with registration and sign-up, serve as course marshals and set-up and tear-down the event. There are about 400 student athletes, Kelly said.
Other annual fundraisers include the fall golf tournament, Thunderwolves Golf Classic, and the summer lobster bake, Kelly said. Student athletes volunteer to assist in fundraising efforts and contributed their services to benefit United Way of Pueblo serving meals and bussing tables at the Golden Corral, April 16.
There was a tent for the participants so they could get some food and sit around when they completed the track, Kelly said, and it was supplied with water, breakfast burritos and fruit, courtesy of Chartwells Catering.
