Marcy Morris (center, in black tank top) sets off with other runners at the start of the fourth annual UMSL Alumni Association 5K Run/Walk on Saturday morning. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

University of Missouri–St. Louis alum Marcy Morris could see a different finish line coming into view Saturday morning as she ran up the path of the Wayne Goode Trail, through the tunnel under Grobman Drive and turned left to head between the Millennium Student Center ponds and toward the end of the UMSL Alumni Association 5K Run/Walk.

Alum Marcy Morris and her husband, Bill, both ran in the UMSL Alumni Association 5K Run/Walk. (Photo by Valerie Furlong)

Morris, who was among more than 230 students, alumni, faculty and staff members participating in the fourth annual event, has been engaged in a competition of her own throughout this year. She set a goal to run one race each month in 2024 as a way to commemorate her 50th birthday, which happened in February. The total distance of all those races will add up to just over 50 miles.

“This is No. 10,” Morris said not long after crossing the finish line 24th overall and second in the women’s 40-59 age group with a time of 27 minutes, 47 seconds.

She was wearing a black tank top that read “Running Into My Fifties,” the same shirt she’s sported everywhere else she and her husband, Bill, have raced over the past 10 months. That included a 10-kilometer race in Sedona, Arizona, in February, another in San Francisco in May, one in Maine in August and assorted 5Ks around the St. Louis area throughout the year.

She has two more planned events on the calendar – the 47th annual Key Biscayne Lighthouse Run 10K on Nov. 9 in Key Biscayne, Florida, and the 14th Annual Santa’s North Pole Dash 5K on Dec. 7 in St. Charles, Missouri.

“It’s been great,” Morris said. “We always do them, and sometimes we have friends join us.”

“We normally have a number of people,” Bill said. “Some don’t run. Some just hang out, but it’s been very cool.”

Morris was glad to include the Alumni 5K on her schedule. She earned her master’s degree in school counseling from UMSL in 2001 – about a year before she took up running, first in shorter races and eventually competing in marathons and triathlons over the past two decades.

Louie the Triton high-fives participants in the UMSL Alumni 5K as they walk up West Drive. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

She saw a note about last year’s race in an email from the UMSL Alumni Association, and while it didn’t work out for her to run, she thought it might fit neatly into this year’s calendar as she started finalizing her 50th plans. She reached out to the Alumni Association to learn the date before it was even announced and kept it blocked off until it was time to register.

Morris, who retired after 27 years in education – five as a classroom teacher and 22 as a school counselor in the Rockwood School District – was happy to have the chance to return to UMSL, even if Saturday’s course offered a few more hills than she might’ve been expecting.

“It was hard,” said Morris, who lives in Ballwin. “It was a challenge running up West. That was a long hill. But it was fun. It was a good course. It was nice to showcase the campus. I haven’t been back in a long time, so it’s really grown, updated, looks beautiful.”

Giving alumni such as Morris a reason to return to UMSL was one of the motivations for creating the Alumni 5K four years ago.

Edward Collins races past the Don Dallas Soccer Field during Saturday’s UMSL Alumni 5K. He joined his father, Adam Collins, an MBA alum and project manager with UMSL Facilities Management, in running the race and was the top youth finisher. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

“It promotes the Alumni Association, it promotes health, it promotes community, and it’s an amazing way to bring people to the campus,” said Nicole Adewale, a principal and director of business development for the ABNA Corporation who served on the UMSL Chancellor’s Council and received her EdD from the university in 2024.

Adewale has been a sponsor of the event since its inception along with other alumni such as Terry and Stan Freerks and corporate partners, including this year’s title sponsor, Edward Jones. Proceeds from the event are being used to support student scholarships.

Lathon Ferguson, a 2004 UMSL graduate and now a member of the UMSL Alumni Association Board of Directors, was glad to see so many people out enjoying the campus on a warm October morning.

“During my time here – and that was some years back – we really only saw people in passing, going back and forth to classes,” Ferguson said. “To see the communal feel that has been built, it’s awesome. For me, it is really seeing in real time UMSL transform from what used to be labeled as a commuter school to a true campus community.”

Junior accounting major Aaron Guss runs clear of the pack on his way to winning the UMSL Alumni 5K. He posted a winning time of 17 minutes, 59 seconds, 3:41 faster than the next closest competitor. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

Adam Collins still feels like a new member of that community. He earned his MBA at UMSL in 2019 but only returned to the university earlier this year to serve as a project manager with UMSL Facilities Management. It was his first time running in the Alumni 5K.

“It seemed like a good way to get out and just enjoy the campus,” Collins said.

He brought his son, Edward, a seventh grader at Busch Middle School in south St. Louis who competed on the school’s cross country team this year.

The younger Collins, 12, was the top youth finisher in the race and placed 18th overall with a time of 26:16.

Junior accounting major Aaron Guss won the race with a time of 17:59, 3:41 ahead of runner-up Matt Enright, a member of the UMSL men’s basketball program. Senior business major Paige Hercules was the top female finisher with a time of 23:56.