TCU’s Interfraternity Council held its first annual Movember 5K on Sunday in Frog Alley to raise funds and bring awareness to men’s health.

Movember Community Developer Doug Prusoff worked alongside Evan Konecky, the fraternity and sorority life coordinator and IFC adviser, to organize the event and encourage participants.

“For us, Greek life is a great way to spread the message,” said Prusoff. “Particularly in the fraternity system, you have a lot of guys that typically aren’t talking and thinking about these issues but they do have that real commitment to the philanthropic effort. So you find ways to make it fun for them, like the 5K, and also the growing out the mustaches for the month of Movember.”  

The Movember Foundation was founded in 2003 and is the only global organization that raises funds for men’s health and supports programs for prostate cancer, testicle cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.

Last fall, the IFC men made Movember their philanthropy and have been coming up with new ways to get the entire campus involved.

“For me, it’s all about awareness, so as long as more people know what Movember stands for we’re making an impact,” said Konecky. “I just wanted to see everyone come out and have a good time and have a good race. I wanted a good turn out, which is what I think we have for our first race.”

There were 256 registered runners signed up for the 5K, and all of them were considered winners.

“I [got] to hand out medals and [I was] really excited to do that because everyone’s a winner today,” said Maddiy Reimer, a sophomore nursing major. “It’s not about competing today. It’s about supporting men’s health and participating in charity events.”

Throughout November, IFC will be hosting more events to raise awareness for men’s health. For more information about IFC’s partnership with Movember, email Konecky.