A Ball State sophomore spent her birthday on Sunday running through the isles of Wal-Mart and scrapping for candy.
Erin Allender said she and her friends had a scavenger hunt, ice cream cake and a pinata for her birthday.
Some might say Allender is too old for such activities, but she just turned five as her Leap Day birthday passed.
Born in 1984, Allender considers herself to be 20 years old.
"We had a theme of five years old, since technically I'm only five," Allender said.
There is a one in 1506 chance of being born on Leap Day and about 200,000 Americans have Leap Day birthdays, according to www.mystro.com, Leap Year a quadrennial celebration.
Sophomore Melissa Rettig was also born on Leap Day in 1984.
"I've heard so many times from people that they've never met anyone born on Leap Year, and they think that it's cool to be born on Leap Day," Rettig said. "That makes me feel unique in a way."-รก
Leap Day babies are called "Leapers." Typically, they choose between February 28 and March 1 to celebrate their birthday.
"When I was little, my parents decided to celebrate my birthday in the month that I was born instead of celebrating it the first day of March," Allender said.
Since there are two days to choose from, sometimes, choosing both is better.
"Last year was the best because the 28th was on a Friday and the 1st was on Saturday so I had the whole weekend as my birthday," Rettig said. "But, usually I'll celebrate my birthday on the 28th, unless it is a weekend then I get the whole weekend."
Allender said she enjoys the birthday because most people never forget when it is.
This year, Allender and Rettig actually celebrated their birthday on February 29.
"We had pretty big festivities," Allender said.
Allender said she spent one night at home with friends and family and then returned to school to celebrate with her friends at Ball State.
Rettig said she went to dinner with friends on the 29th.
Since the actual date of their birth only comes around every four years, the celebration is bigger than a typical birthday.
The next Leap Day and Leap Year will be in 2008.
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