If students think rubbing Testudo’s nose results in good luck, rubbing five Testudos’ noses must be like finding a four-leaf clover under a horseshoe on the seventh day of the month.
This extra luck could come in handy with finals just a few weeks away.
And the students who participated in the Student Government Association’s Testudo Challenge yesterday will have it. The students ran 1.3 miles from Comcast Center to McKeldin Library, rubbing the noses of five of the campus’s six Testudo statues along the way. The SGA Department of Programming and Traditions organized the event and hopes to make it a lasting tradition.
“It’s one of the biggest traditions on campus to rub Testudo’s nose,” said Elizabeth Ding, director of the department. “It’s a very unique facet of the university.”
She said the SGA has wanted to host the race for a few years, but in the past it has conflicted with other spring events. The SGA modeled the race after other colleges’ traditional races, such as the University of Chicago’s Polar Bear Run.
“We wanted to personalize it and make it Maryland-centered,” Ding said.
The 43 participants started the race at the bottom of Comcast Center’s steps and followed chalked arrows down streets and through parking lots. SGA members stationed at each Testudo marked runners’ marathon tags as they made their way to Gossett Field House, Riggs Alumni Center and Stamp Student Union before they arrived outside McKeldin.
The only Testudo left out of the race was the one at Byrd Stadium, which is inaccessible to students, Ding said.
Abe Veppumthara, a senior cell biology major, said the allure of free T-shirts attracted him to the race. He said it was a good tradition.
“It’s a fun fact to know where all the Testudos are,” he said.
Second-place finisher John Brun, a freshman education major, said he did not know about the Testudo at the alumni center.
“I have an extra turtle I can rub now,” he said.
Nolan Matthews, the winner of the race, said he runs regularly and came because the race sounded like fun. The freshman astronomy and physics major often rubs Testudo’s nose for luck but said he was not thinking about luck as he ran.
“I was trying to figure out how this kid was keeping up with me,” he said.
While other runners stopped for “Turtleade” at the alumni center, Matthews did not. He was focused on winning.
Nonetheless, other runners found the time to enjoy the beverage. Alison Taylo, the alumni association’s coordinator of student philanthropy, designed Terrapin-themed Gatorade wrappers especially for the event. Participants had their choice of “Orange you glad you’re a Terp,” “Gary Williams Fist Punch” and “La Plata Lime.”
Ali Khalid, a junior biochemistry major, heard about the event an hour before it began and decided to come in jeans because he is a commuter and could not change his clothes.
Although junior fire protection engineering major Krystyna Buda-Ortins came dressed to run, she said the race was harder than she expected.
“I thought, ‘1.3 miles. No biggie,’ but it was uphill at parts,” she said. She came because she thought the race would be a good experience.
“It’s a great thing to do before graduating,” she said.
Junior international business major Marisol Vales said the Testudo Challenge is a good tradition to start because the university does not have enough of them. She added that more people should be involved in the race to rub Testudos’ noses.
“They should get all the incoming freshmen to do it so they know where they are,” Vales said.
The first-, second- and third-place winners of the race received $25 gift cards for the University Book Center, and all participants will receive T-shirts from the university’s Wellness Coalition.
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