Kyle Perry smiled as he realized he had just won McKinley Mile for the third time. After finishing the final seven laps for Kirk's Bike Shop, he didn't even realize the race was over.
"It was great," he said after the race. "It was nice having these guys cheering me on at the side, especially since I lost track of how many laps I had."
Perry, a 2010 Ball State graduate, said he was glad to see the event continue to grow since it started five years ago. He was on the winning team in 2008 and 2009.
This year, 30 teams competed in either the 24-mile Cardinal Relay or the 1-mile Benny Dash. This was more than double the number of teams from last year.
For the Cardinal Relay, all teams were placed into four categories: pro, community, alumni and student. Awards were given to the winner of each category.
Junior accounting major Nick Stevens competed on a team with the Ball State men's swimming team for the second year. He said they finished in third place last year but are in better shape now.
"We've got two cycling teams and a couple other teams that look like they've put in a lot of effort so we're just doing this for fun," he said. "You know, trying to stay in shape."
Chris Thompson, a history professor and member Kirk's Bike Shop team, said he was glad he could cheer his team to a victory.
"It was the thrill of just riding as hard as you can, for as long as you can - and riding with some really fun teammates - then watching them work really hard and win," he said.
THE SAFETY FACTOR
One of the biggest changes Lambda Chi Alpha made to the event was rerouting cyclists north on McKinley Avenue, coordinator Thomas Jacoby said.
This way, the bikers would only be making right turns, which are safer. It also made it easier for bystanders to watch the race, Jacoby added.
Committee member Justin Friend said the workers all had good communication, which made the event go smoothly. University Program Board provided them with walkie talkies.
"The most important thing that I can say is that there were no injuries," Friend said. "There were no accidents, unlike last year. We strive to make it as safe as possible for our riders and we did."
University police were present to block off the roads during the race.
THE BENEFIT
Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, which organized the event, said $1,857 was raised to benefit Cardinal Greenway.
The McKinley Mile not only raised money, but it also provided awareness, said Angie Pool, executive director of Cardinal Greenway.
"It seems like just within the last year, we've had so much more opportunity to participate with the students," Pool said. "And then with the McKinley Mile, I have so many more contacts now that it seems like it's kind of blossomed after being on the committee and being around campus more."
Chris Buck, president of Lambda Chi Alpha, said this was their first philanthropy as a chapter since they have returned to campus.
Although the McKinley Mile does not raise as much money as other events on campus, Friend said their goal is to be just as big.
"We just want to be an event on campus that has enough prestige as the other events on campus because we love all the events that Ball State provides and we want this one to be up there with the big dogs," he said.
THE STREET FAIR
Despite the cool weather, teams seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of the race more than the competition. It included inflatables, a DJ and free food. The owner of Carter's Nearly World Famous Hot Dogs was there - and he ran out of dogs by the end of the race.
Mark Carter said he prepared 400 hot dogs for the day. Before the event, he said he was "full of vim and vigor."
"Hot dog man is always ready," he said.
Friend said they ordered the appropriate amount of food and when Carter's was sold out, "it was a mad house to all the ice cream."
Megan Rice, an English language major from Arizona State University, said this was her first time at a bike race.
"I thought it was very impressive," she said. "They had some tough competitors out there, and they kicked major butt."
Because they have established a good base for the McKinley Mile, Friend said, they want to double the amount of people for next year's event.
"I have a feeling if it was 80 and sunny today, we would have a little bigger crowd, but I am very pleased about the crowd that showed up today despite the weather conditions," he said. "We can only go up with the amount of Lambda Chi Alpha's help and the committee. It can only go up from here."
Sarah Boswell contributed to this story.
-á
Benny Dash
Best costume: Alpha Phi Alpha (dressed up as Quailman from the cartoon "Doug")
First place: Sigma Kappa
Second place: Spectrum/LSU
Third place: Alliance
Cardinal Relay
Pro team: Kirk's Bike Shop 1:06:24
Community team: G-G 1:12:16
Alumni team: Alpha Tau Omega 1:08
Student team: Asbury Gogels 1:11:45
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