Chris Tkach won this year’s Great Pumpkin Run on Saturday, raising money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure.

With a time of 18:04, Tkach was ahead of his competition in the 5k race, with second place, Tom Bodnar, coming in with a time of 18:53.

The women did not disappoint either, with first place Lauren McNamara coming in with a time of 22:11, with second place Brenna Kenney hot on her heels.

“I thought I had some good competition, so I wasn’t expecting to win,” McNamara said.

“It feels pretty good, I just ran my race and I didn’t expect to win,” Tkach said.

“It was a very nice course, I enjoyed it very much,” Tkach said, adding that it “was a moderate course, on the easier side for me at least.”

Both winners said they enjoyed running, with McNamara saying that she competed at the race with other members of the running club.

“It’s the best weather for it, it was very refreshing,” competitor Jihyoung Son said. “It took me longer than I thought, but I did meet a lot of people.”

“The course takes them around campus, past the lagoon,” said Brian Wallis, the Fitness Center manager. “It’s a nice scenic route.”

The Fitness Center has been the organizer of the run for the last seven years.

“For the last five years we’ve been raising money for the Susan G Komen foundation,” Wallis said. “We usually raise between 500 to 1,000 dollars.”

This year there were around 120 competitors in the race to win a trophy, while at the same time raising money for breast cancer research.

The entry cost for the race was $3, with all proceeds going to the Komen foundation for breast cancer research.

Tamara Sims, who is a personal trainer and a desk attendant for the Fitness Center, said that she enjoyed coming and dressing up.

“It’s good cause it’s fun to come out and see everyone. There was a good amount of people,” Sims said.

Dressing as a pumpkin for the race, she said that “we always have to have a pumpkin and I’m always willing to be that silly person. It’s a fun time.”

Inside the Campus Center, where race participants registered for the event, people were painting pumpkins and Colleges Against Cancer members were there to raise awareness of breast cancer.

“We work closely with the American Cancer to raise awareness and funds for cancer research,” said Karly Babcock from Colleges Against College.

Wallis said that this is not the only event to fundraise and to promote fitness at Oswego State.

Some of the other events that the Fitness Center holds include The O-mazing race in the fall and three spring events, including the Zumbathon, the group exercise marathon and Color Oswego.