Ice cream and running. What a combination.

On Saturday, three Onward State staffers participated in Campus Recreation’s third annual Ice Cream Mile. Despite facing issues of physical fitness (they had many) and lactose intolerance (they had more), our brave runners put themselves to the test against many scoops of ice cream and 5,280 feet of open grass.

Here’s how they fared in the challenge.

Cooper Cazares

I’d like to preface this recollection by saying that I’m not a runner, nor have I ever claimed to be a runner. I couldn’t tell you what I was thinking when I volunteered to do this. I thought it would be a fun activity to do with my friends, however, it wasn’t fun, and I don’t think I’d do it again.

It would’ve been a good time if I hadn’t made some bad decisions the night before. I came into the race already at a disadvantage, knowing full well that it wasn’t going to have a great ending, but I was committed. I paid my $10 to compete, got the shirt, and checked in.

The start of the race was probably the most fun I had during the event because I thought it would be funny to sprint the first straight away, asserting how fast my short-distance speed is. After that first turn, it was over. It hit me immediately that this race was done for me and that I was indeed cooked. The first ice cream stop was enjoyable. I got to walk for a second and cool myself with some half-melted dessert. The end of the first lap was my end of bliss. It was all downhill from there.

The second lap was pretty humbling. I was getting passed left and right, and there was literally nothing I could do about it. The only thing keeping me going was the friendly people at the water station set up halfway in each lap. I didn’t grab any water, but their kind messages of encouragement kept me moving forward. I don’t remember much, but I think Noah had caught me at this point and Oscar (former cross-country star) was long gone. The second ice cream was fine.

The third lap sucked. It felt like my stomach was going to collapse in on itself. I can’t exactly tell you how I managed to stay running this long, but I was still chugging. Ice cream was all over my face and hands, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how long I still had left in the race. The third ice cream was fine.

The fourth lap was actually better than the third. I knew it was almost over, and I just tried to will myself to the finish line. I started to pass a couple of people rounding the final few turns but at this point, I couldn’t care less about my time or what place I came in. The last ice cream had trouble going down, but once it finally disappeared, I was done. I finished. War was over.

Post-race was everything I knew it was going to be. At first, it was the coughing and inability to catch my breath, and then it all came crashing down. All of my bad decisions from the night before (and the ice cream) made a reappearance in the porta potty close by. I’m not proud of my performance or the way it ended, but I finished. I got third (out of three) in the Onward State competition, but that’s a place on the podium and for this event, that’s good enough for me. I probably won’t be back for this event next year, and just save my $10 for quite literally anything else.

Noah Flenard

Overall, I felt pretty good going into the race. I went on runs multiple times a week and knew a mile would not kill me. When I go for runs after I work out, I run about a 7:30 mile. My goal for the event was nine or 10 minutes. I did not know much about the event going into it, which led to skepticism about my ability to eat the ice cream especially since I am lactose intolerant.

After the first lap, I felt great. I felt energized and extra motivated to complete the race. The ice cream was in a small cup, which I ate within three spoonfuls. The ice cream almost felt like a refreshment. I knew I’d be able to increase my pace with each lap.

I felt like I picked up my pace since the first lap, which was my goal. The ice cream started to feel a little heavy on my stomach, but it was all mental. After picking up my pace a little bit, I immediately lost the feeling of the ice cream. I had run past Cooper during this lap, at which point he gave me a dirty smirk.

Since I knew I only had one lap to go, I tried to drink the cup of ice cream to save time, which worked. I had moved up in the group and was in a position to beat Cooper and Oscar. I made sure to sprint the upcoming lap.

Halfway through my last lap, the event coordinator told me 7:35 had passed, which shocked me. I was two minutes faster than my goal. I started to sprint harder straight to the ice cream station where I chugged the last cup of ice cream and finished the race with a time of 8:05.

After talking with Oscar, I found out that even though we finished the race together neck and neck, he did not eat his final cup of ice cream, which meant that I had won the race out of the Onward State runners. I also finished the race in the fastest group. I was stoked and enjoyed watching Cooper fight his demons (the ice cream (the ice cream won)).

Oscar Orellana

I’d like to say I’m a very experienced runner. I did three years of cross country and track in high school, and I’ve even run four marathons. I can’t lie, when I signed up for this, I thought I had it in the bag against Cooper and Noah. I have had an Achilles injury and am a little bit out of shape since I moved here, but I was still very confident. And oh man, was I wrong.

I started the first lap rather conservatively, hoping to speed up after eating my first cup of ice cream. I saw Cooper immediately speed off, and I kept him in my eyesight as I rounded the corner for the first cup. I snagged the small portion of ice cream and downed it, looking past its coldness. The race organizers said not to throw away the spoon, which I did accidentally. The first cup of ice cream made me think that it wasn’t that bad, and I thought I could easily go under nine minutes, as I projected.

The second lap went smoothly, as well. I found a rhythm and was comfortably running at around a 6:45 pace as I looked at my watch. I knew I passed Cooper but didn’t know where Noah was. I got to the ice cream station and realized I had thrown away my spoon, but I just took another one. Then, I dropped my ice cream. It fell and smeared all over the grass. I had to get another one — I am no cheater. I downed it pretty easily, but I lost a lot of valuable time explaining to the organizers why I needed another ice cream.

After that debacle, I started on my third lap. Even through this lap, I felt comfortable. My heart rate was a little high, but everything else was going smoothly. The last ice cream was definitely hard to stomach. I don’t know what happened, but I took forever getting that last cup down. It went everywhere, too. My nose and hands were so sticky since all the ice cream had melted. After I finished, I unleashed on the last lap.

The last lap was fun. I sped up and found myself at 8:30 as I rounded the last 200 meters. I sprinted the last 100 meters and initially thought I had bagged the win, but Noah finished right with me. I then thought we tied.

However, the race organizers very clearly said that ice cream only needed to be consumed after laps Nos. 1, 2, and 3. So, I did not eat ice cream after my fourth lap to finish it off. They did tell Noah, however, to eat a cup before finishing the race. Therefore, in the time it took Noah to eat the ice cream and me to finish, we ended up tying, meaning Noah won since I didn’t eat the ice cream.

It was an extremely disappointing finish. I’m sorry, this does qualify me as a cheater. While I did technically cheat, the race organizers needed to be clearer if they were going to switch up the rules at the end. I will train hard for next year and hope to take home the Onward State Ice Cream Mile crown. But for now, Noah is the king.

Cooper suffered pretty badly post-race. I was also coughing up a storm and felt like throwing up, but I held it in. Looking past the discomfort, it was a fun and interesting experience, to say the least. I also got a sick shirt and sticker. I 100% recommend it to everyone for next year.