By Colin Ehrman
Staff Writer
As you spend time in Winston-Salem, no matter the time or the place, you can’t help but notice the accord and alliance of the running community. Everywhere you go, runners are out and about, stacking up their daily miles. In addition to its physical benefits, running is important for building community, providing social support, and fostering a sense of belonging. Additionally, there’s no better feeling than running for a cause, and the Ardmore RAH! does just that.
Held in the heart of Winston-Salem’s historic Ardmore neighborhood, the Ardmore RAH! (Run Against Hunger) is an annual event set on the third Saturday of every October, hosted by the Redeemer Presbyterian Church. The event includes a one-mile fun run, a 5K, a 10K race, and a food drive that raises money for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC.
“We have many missions,” second-year race director Jemina Smith said. “The primary goal is to raise money to fight hunger in our North Carolina neighborhoods. We strive to be a family-oriented race where everyone is welcome and where all can participate.”
The Ardmore RAH! has been going strong for over twenty years; the event has brought major success to the communities of North Carolina and generated many donations. However, this isn’t to say they haven’t gone without struggles.
“The biggest challenge we face every year is finding enough volunteers,” Smith said. “We need a minimum of one hundred volunteers to make the event run smoothly, and that is a very big ask from the community. We always try to recruit early on, but somehow still always end up scrambling for more volunteers the last week.”
As the event struggles with its volunteers, planning the event is an even larger, time-consuming process. Preparation involves many sponsors and companies helping fund the event. With this comes stress and pressure of raising enough money.
“The planning process is long, and it starts in February each year by deciding on a good date,” Smith said. “From there on, we have to apply for permission from the city to host the event on said date. Then we start emailing sponsors, trying to find as many companies as possible that are local to donate to the cause and the race. We raise a different amount each year, but we were aiming for $35,000, as we have been close to that in previous years.”
This year, the Ardmore RAH! came just short of their donation goal, raising roughly $34,000. Despite their shortcomings, RAH! continues to overcome adversity and leave their footprint on not just the running community, but humanity. They’ve been fueling change since 2001, bringing North Carolina together to fight hunger. In a time where natural disasters have decimated Western North Carolina, Ardmore RAH! has been the change, doing something worth cheering for.