Three weeks after cancelation, the McKinley Mile Bike Race cut through campus Saturday.
The event was shortened and fewer attractions covered University Green, but the event still brought a good amount of students to the center of campus.
"I'm just here to support my [Alpha Tau Omega] brothers and eat some free food," said Chris Obendorf, freshman computer science major.
Ball State University Cycling Team won the competitive Benny race.
"We were all really excited about the event when it was first supposed to be and then we were all kind of sad that it was canceled," junior economics and business administration major John Callahan said. "But it's great to see it come back."
Callahan said every time the Cycling Team has entered the race, they have won. The joy of winning doesn't change, he said.
"There's a lot of competition this year," he said "It's good to see people renting or borrowing bikes in order to partake today."
Free food, live music and a rock climbing wall covered University Green, along with some smaller attractions. This entertainment is notably smaller than what was planned for the April 9 race, but those who attended took advantage.
Fewer attractions means some money was lost, but event coordinator Rhiannon Racy assured students their money had not been wasted.
"University Program Board's events are planned through student fees. Student Life, where all of the money for this event came from, does not come out of student fees," Racy said.
Racy also explained that not as much money was lost as what could have been due to an "act-of-god" clause.
"Because of the act-of-god clause, we only had to pay the vendors for the set-up and tear-down. We only paid them for the work they had done," she said.
The Goodnight Fields, a band comprised of Ball State students, played during the race, even stepping out towards their audience for an intimate acoustic set just before the end of the event.
Obendorf said he enjoyed the event but wishes it had happened on the day which it was originally planned.
"It was better timing for me on the ninth," Obendorf said. "But I think this went well too. It was something to do on a Saturday."
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