Runners sprint through rain drops at the start of the fifth annual UMSL 5K Run and Walk on Saturday morning on North Campus. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)

There was no sleeping in for Samuel Fredeking on his 34th birthday Saturday morning.

Alums Samuel and Brandi Fredeking brought their 5-year-old son, Calvin, with them to the fifth annual UMSL 5K Run and Walk. Samuel ran the race on his 34th birthday. Brandi and Calvin walked it, and they met up at the finish line.

In fact, he said he found himself waking up by 2 a.m. with anticipation as he looked forward to spending the early part of his morning running with other University of Missouri–St. Louis alumni as well as current and possibly future students up and down the hills of campus in the fifth annual UMSL 5K Run and Walk, hosted by the UMSL Alumni Association.

Fredeking typically prefers CrossFit to running, but the race has become a ritual for Fredeking and his wife, Brandi, since it began, and they once again brought their 5-year-old son, Calvin, with them to their alma mater for the event.

“This is our family thing,” said Fredeking, who serves as the vice president of the UMSL Alumni Association Board. “We’ve done it every year. We love it. Once we finish the race, we’ll go to the store and see what kind of merch we can buy. We generally go to the Mercantile Library, and I show my son where I did all my homework and studying and all that stuff.”

Chancellor Kristin Sobolik, Chancellor Emerita Blanche Touhill and Louie the Triton were on hand to cheer on the runners during Saturday morning’s race.

It’s important for Fredeking, who lives in Washington, Missouri, and now works as the human resources manager at HTH Companies Inc., to share that history with his son because of the special role the university played in his life. He and Brandi met at UMSL as sophomores, both studying in the Pierre Laclede Honors College. He earned his bachelor’s in psychology, and she received her BSBA, both graduating in 2013. They both pursued their MBAs in the Ed G. Smith College of Business and were married in the Provincial House in 2016.

“My son loves it here,” Fredeking said. “Hopefully, he’ll be a legacy here as well.”

The Alumni Association began hosting the UMSL 5K Run and Walk to give alumni a fun opportunity to reconnect with the university and former classmates as well as share memories with their family members.

Men’s swimmer Mattia Nardi was the top finisher in the UMSL 5K Run and Walk and took a picture with Louie after collecting his prize.

Roughly 300 alumni, current students, faculty and staff, family members and neighbors from the surrounding community registered for this year’s race. But for a spot shower right at the 8:30 a.m. start, Saturday’s rain held off long enough to allow them to make their way around the 3.1-mile course, which started and ended near the lawn outside the Recreation and Wellness Center and crisscrossed North Campus with stretches under the Millennium Student Center Bridge, around the Mark Twain Athletic Center and Don Dallas Soccer Field and along West Drive, Grobman Drive and the trail that runs behind the MSC parking garages.

Student-athletes Mattia Nardi of the men’s swimming team and Mason Dunlap of the men’s basketball team were the top two finishers, posting times of 18:33 and 18:58, respectively.

High schooler Alya Pellegrini runs past the Recreation and Wellness Center and toward the finish of the UMSL 5K Run and Walk.

Edmaelle Augustin, who holds degrees in mathematics and fintech, was the first woman across the line in a time of 21:51. Alya Pellegrini, the daughter of College of Business Associate Dean Ekin Pellegrini and a junior cross country runner at John Burroughs School, was the next female finisher in a time of 23:10.

The Alumni Association awarded prizes to the top three male and female finishers in each age group category – 1-24, 25-40, 40-59 and 60+.

Alum Fred Faust, a member of the graduating class of 1974, didn’t mind bringing up the rear with Alumni Association Governing Board member Melissa Anson, in his first year participating in the UMSL 5K.

“I walked with Melissa, and she’s just delightful,” said Faust, 73. “Time went fast, and we did it in about an hour.”

Alums Fred Faust and Melissa Anson walked across the finish of the UMSL 5K Run and Walk.

Anson let other participants know that Faust graduated more than 50 years ago, and Faust provided a bit of history from his time at UMSL. As they walked around the Mark Twain Athletic Center, Faust shared that the building was dedicated the same day he graduated.

Faust, who now lives in Edwardsville, Illinois, and is a retired vice president of sales at Argo Products, enjoyed being back at his alma mater. It brought back some memories.

“I grew up in Bel-Ridge,” he said. “There were five kids and my mom and dad in a 1,000-square-foot home, so it was pretty tight quarters. When I wanted to go to college, my dad said, ‘Well, there’s a perfectly good school up the street. That’s where you’re going.’ My older brother went here, and he’s a retired judge. My younger brother went here. He was a vice president with the Sheraton hotel chain. I have a sister, who was president of the company. She went here. So, for my family, it’s worked out pretty well for sure.”

View more photos from the UMSL 5K Run and Walk by visiting the UMSL Flickr and Instagram accounts.