About 750 runners had the opportunity to see the emerging medical city last Saturday during the third annual RUN NONA 5K run/walk that began and ended at the UCF College of Medicine.
Participants included children, College of Medicine faculty, staff members and students.
The college and many of its Lake Nona neighbors offered gifts and information at booths along the Tavistock Green. Lorraine Scholler, assistant director of development, manned the College of Medicine booth, which featured a display on the college’s newest, healthy tradition: The College of Medicine Anatomy Salad. It features kidney beans, potato skins, elbow macaroni, heart of palm, “cell”-ery, black-eyed peas, ear of corn, and heads of broccoli and cauliflower. The Anatomy Salad display was created by Faith Schafer-Moody, coordinator of library services, for the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library. “The display was so cute,” Lorraine said. “People just loved it.”
Dr. Mujtaba Husain, the College of Medicine’s professor of Pathology, placed third in his age group in the 5K with a time of just over 31 minutes. Dr. Husain began running several years ago when his doctor told him he needed to lose weight and suggested he start exercising before he started a diet.
Dr. Husain was teaching at Wayne State University in Detroit at the time and his office was a quarter-mile from the main campus and located on the ninth floor. “I vowed to always run to campus, never walk, and I voted never to take the elevator,” he said. “I took the stairs two steps at a time and went between the two campuses three or four times a day. At one time I couldn’t run a block. Now I can run 3 or 4 miles. I pray when I run. That’s my mantra.”