KU Field Station will host second biennial fun run Nov. 12

LAWRENCE — The second biennial Field Station Frolic/Mari Pesek Memorial Fun Run will take place at the University of Kansas Field Station on Saturday, Nov. 12. The all-ages 5K fun run/walk is open to the public and starts at 10 a.m. The Field Station is just north of Lawrence at 350 Wild Horse Road.

The course is within the bounds of the Field Station, not on public roads, and provides an opportunity to see areas of the Field Station not usually open to the public.

“The Field Station is a beautiful place, and fall is a great time to visit,” said Ed Martinko, director of the Kansas Biological Survey, which manages the Field Station. “This event offers the chance to get an informal behind-the-scenes look at some of the research sites there.”

The fun run, established in 2014, honors the memory of Mari Pesek, a KU graduate student who conducted research on plants and insects at the Field Station. She died in 2013 as the result of an auto accident shortly after she graduated with a master’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology.

Pesek’s peers at the Biological Survey and fellow graduate students conceived and organized the event two years ago to celebrate her life and work, and to raise funds for a graduate student award in her name.

All event registration proceeds (less online processing fees) support the Mari F. Pesek Graduate Research Award fund at KU Endowment. The award assists graduate students who conduct field-based research at the Field Station or within the state of Kansas. Donations to the fund can be made anytime online at www.kuendowment.org/maripesek.

The run/walk is an informal event with no time limit and is being capped at 100 participants. Packet pickup begins at 9 a.m. at the Field Station’s Armitage Education Center (directions and map). If online registration does not reach the maximum, there may be race-day registration on the morning of the event; an update will be posted on the Facebook page for the fun run. Online registration is $25; race-day registration, if available, will be $30.  

Questions may be directed to Sheena Parsons at the Kansas Biological Survey via email.

The Kansas Biological Survey, a KU research center, was established at the university in 1911. The core area of the Field Station, north of Lawrence, consists of 1,800 acres with five miles of public trails; it is open to programs across KU as a teaching and research resource. The Field Station totals 3,700 acres in Douglas, Jefferson and Anderson counties.

KU Endowment is the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.