On September 20, the Inaugural Love of Languages 5K race took place in the heart of the Ohio State campus. Despite the rainy weather, people of all ages turned out, with students, faculty and staff from language and other departments cheerily greeting each other,  families running together, parents pushing their little ones in strollers, and even some dogs joining the event.

DEALL was well-represented at the event. Cayt Lucas, an undergraduate Korean language student, who volunteered with registration, observed that “Having Brutus join us just before the race starts was a cool experience!”  Lillian Bushway, a new student in the Chinese graduate program, shared that “I loved the energy of the other volunteers; I thought they did a great job cheering!”

The department also sported a good number of participants.  One of the undergraduate students in second year Japanese (J1103), Mak Gumpf (Computer and Information Science major/Japanese minor) came in first overall at an amazing 18’35! On his victory, he said “I was just happy to be supporting the event. Winning was a bonus." 

Graduate students from the Chinese program (Caleb Apperson, Lulu Yuan, KuanYing Wu) and the Japanese program (Joseph Santiago, Miki Arakaki) finished in the middle of the field. Meanwhile, Chinese language program coordinator Xuan Ye set a personal best at 34’06, while earning some YP4H credit. A strolling brigade with DEALL faculty Joseph Butso, Yonsoo Kang-Parker, Ai Terada and Pat Sieber, brought up the rear of the 630+ people who completed the race. 

Many DEALL participants commented on how they loved hearing different languages fill the air. Ai Terada noted that “it was great to hear volunteers cheering participants on in a language other than English such as 加油 {Ch. jiayou, “Keep it up!”}.”  Yonsoo Kang-Parker also loved “hearing the volunteers cheer us on in Korean, shouting, “빨리 가, 빨리 가!” (Let's go, Let's go!).” Ying Yang, an international student from China studying Korean, shared some of her impressions as a volunteer: “A runner complimented my friend's rain boots in Chinese, and we were both surprised and delighted. It really showed how language connects us and brings people together.”

KuanYing Wu, a graduate student in Chinese, captured the spirit of the event. “I felt a strong sense of belonging. Running with friends motivated me to finish the race and made me feel more connected to the community. It was especially meaningful to see so many people come together to support and celebrate languages.”

DEALL is already looking forward to next year’s Love of Languages 5K event.