Gregory Gymnasium boomed with music and flickering cameras at 7 a.m. Saturday morning, with runners across Austin lined up to set a new personal best in their running careers. 

A horn blared, and seconds later, over 7,000 runners took off as the 16th annual Longhorn Run commenced.

The Longhorn Run, which began in 2010, attracts students, faculty, staff and community members in the Austin area to bring the campus together while also raising funds for the Student Government Excellence Fund to help support student organization projects. The race, which started with only 2,500 runners in its first year, serves as a celebration for the community and the runners.

“The engagement from the student body participating in group runs and training events over the course of the spring to gear up for race day has also grown year to year, truly emphasizing how Longhorn Run has also provided avenues for community building year-round,” Cecilia Lopez Cardenas, the associate director of communications at Texas RecSports, wrote in an email statement. “Year to year, 60% of our participants are UT students — the rest of the participant base is alumni, faculty, staff and community members.”

For Jinung Choi, a statistics Ph.D. student, running is more than a weekly form of exercise. 

“Running with (friends) is really helpful for my emotions,” Choi said. “It is helpful to release my stress every Thursday morning when I run with my friends.”

In a study by six professors at the Karolinska Institute about running and its mental effects, it was concluded that running produces neurological chemical effects similar to the release of chemicals from addictive drugs in the brain. This is similar to the effects that Choi discussed and is a big factor that gets so many people into running.

Chemical engineering freshman Mateo Lopez said the Longhorn Run is just one of the University’s many ways to foster community involvement. 

“UT is very inclusive,” Lopez said. “The University has helped me make meaningful connections.”

The Longhorn Run and Texas RecSports, which offers intramurals such as basketball, flag football, volleyball and more, are only the beginning for many students hoping to jumpstart their participation in athletics. 

“We are consistently inspired by the many stories of how Longhorn Run has inspired students especially to discover running and how for many it turned into a pivotal moment in their fitness and movement journey,” Lopez Cardenas wrote.

Looking towards the future, Lopez Cardenas wrote that Longhorn Run hopes to continue to be a catalyst for people to find community and begin their athletic career. 

“We hope every runner realizes what they are capable of and are inspired by their own journey to continue to set new goals and carry the spirit of Longhorn Run year-round,” Lopez Cardenas wrote.