International flare shown at BBCC race

MOSES LAKE - International students and other community members in Moses Lake turned out Saturday for the Cinco de Mayo Fun Run at Big Bend Community College.

Complete with students playing mariachi music at the finish line, about 30 runners participated in the event, which was sponsored by the BBCC Triathlon Club and Basin Family Chiropractic. Many of the runners and volunteers at the race are part of the college's Japanese Agricultural Training Program.

Rod Richeson, with the triathlon club, said about half of the international students in the training program ran in the event. He added those students don't have many weekend activities and the race helped them get involved.

Tyler Wallace, a Big Bend math instructor, finished first in the 5-kilometer race with a time of 19:55 and Yu Ueno, a Japanese student at the college, was the first to complete the 10-kilometer portion in 42:52.

Richeson, who has completed triathlons for 11 years, said there wasn't any sort of running group at the college and starting a club seemed like the right step.

"With my background, I thought it would be fun to help others," he said. "A lot of people don't try because it seems insurmountable. With a little help, and helping them see the smaller pieces, do each one of the different things, and then put them together."

Richeson said the club has about 30 members, 10 of whom are very active.

This is the second race sponsored by the triathlon group. The first race held in the fall drew about 15 racers. Richeson is hoping to make it an annual event.

"We did this specifically to fundraise, but to also give people a goal," he said. "Training, if you don't have a goal, gets stale after awhile."