Thursday there is a wonderful event on campus called Hit the Bricks.  It’s a fundraiser for the Brian Piccolo Cancer Fund, and teams of up to 10 people run (or in my case, walk) laps on the Quad.  Teams can be formed by: fraternities, sororities, freshmen halls, faculty/staff, or “open” teams, which could be any other group of students (whether from a club, intramural team, etc.)

Each team is given a baton to carry, which gets scanned every lap to track the team’s progress.  You get one lap credit per scan if you walk/run unencumbered, but two laps credit if you wear a Hit the Bricks backpack full of sand.  It’s more work, so you get more points.

There is some not-so-subtle competition between teams, because the urge to win is strong among Wake Foresters.  There are bragging rights to be won, and it’s not just the student groups either.  I was talking to a staff member yesterday who said his team has an elaborate strategy, unlike anything else they’ve ever done.  This team is serious.  They want to win the faculty/staff category.

This event involves so many members of our campus community.  Teams drag out sofas and coolers of drinks for their group – so if you aren’t running, you can relax and rehydrate for a few minutes.  There are cheers, there are real time stats being kept on a giant scoreboard throughout the day.  It’s full of energy and excitement.

The actual kickoff was on Tuesday night, where they held the time trials for fastest lap.  Each team was encouraged to send a runner.  The fastest male and female runner won a Balfour class ring.  There is going to be a captain’s meeting tonight (Wednesday) to go over the procedural  aspects of the run, followed by a pizza and pasta dinner and a showing of the movie “Brian’s Song” about Brian Piccolo.  Then on Thursday, team captains are supposed to claim their baton, wristbands and backpack of sand between 9-10:45 am.  The event proper starts at 11 and runs til 7.

The Parent Programs office will be represented during Hit the Bricks, so if you are a regular reader of this Daily Deac blog or the Parents’ Page or Facebook, know that we’re out there doing our part for Brian Piccolo.  And hopefully not being trampled by your much younger, much faster, children!

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