Penn State’s Ice Cream Mile

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Campus Recreation hosted the Ice Cream Mile on Oct. 1 at 2 p.m. on Penn State’s Intramural Fields.

The event’s registration began at 1:30 p.m. in preparation for the 2 p.m. race start time. All participants run three laps around the IM Field, which totals one mile. In between each lap, the runners eat a cup of ice cream from the on-campus Berkey Creamery.

After running three laps, participants crossed the finish line with water and Campus Recreation volunteers cheering them on.

An Ice Cream Mile runner Sophie Briseno, a third-year student majoring in supply chain, just decided she’s training for a marathon.

“Running around campus is really beautiful and I like running around Beaver Stadium. I ran like 4.5 miles a few times this week and I actually have ran a marathon in the past, but I did it with no training senior year of high school and busted my knees up while doing it,” Briseno said.

Her roommate, who works for Campus Recreation, inspired her to race in the Ice Cream Mile. Briseno is entering the race with the mindset of “having fun. It’s a mile and I’m lactose intolerant.” Briseno went on to say, “It’s going to all taste terrible before you have to run.”

Currently, Briseno is training for the 2024 Honolulu Marathon. She shared that she has a cousin who lives in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Honolulu Marathon is the 4th largest marathon in the U.S. and after completing the race, all runners celebrate at Kapiolani Park.

Ryan Baker, a first-year mechanical engineering major, and Josh Blymiller, a first-year majoring in aerospace engineering, are using the same advice to complete the race: “don’t throw up and survive."

Baker and Blymiller are confident going into the race, although they admitted they aren’t running fanatics. The two signed up because all their friends were racing too.

The maximum number of runners able to register was 250. After paying $10 to register, all runners received a pink T-shirt, finisher sticker, complimentary ice cream and water.

Campus Rec. volunteers, wearing navy T-shirts, timed the racers using stopwatches; each racer’s total time includes the time spent while eating ice cream.

The Ice Cream Mile occurred early in the fall semester to celebrate and create more community on campus and in State College.

Natalie Simone is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email nvs5790@psu.edu.