Dogs help raise nearly $40K for UC Blue Ash scholarships

More than 400 participants – people and dogs – helped support local students at the UC Blue Ash Dash 5K Run/Walk for Scholarships on September 21.

The 5K was a chip-timed event held on the UC Blue Ash College campus. It raised just over $39,000, with the proceeds going to the UC Blue Ash Student Scholarship Fund. This is the sixth year of the UC Blue Ash Dash 5K; it has now generated more than $240,000 for student scholarships.

New this year, participants were able to register their dogs for the 5K. About 30 were signed up and each pup received a special UC Blue Ash 5K bandana for walking or running the course with their owner.

Jeff Kissel, of Cincinnati, won the overall race with a time of 19:21. Kaitlin Price, also of Cincinnati, won the women’s division, coming in at 19.40. In the team competition, the UC Blue Ash Nursing Department took first place with 35 participants.

All the results from the race are available online.

Nearly half of the students at UC Blue Ash are the first in their family to attend college and more than 75% work while going to school. The financial support provided through scholarships can often be the key to helping them stay in school and graduate.

Sponsors for the event were Ohio National Financial Services, UPS, Modern Office Methods, InfoTrust, McCluskey Chevrolet, Brookwood Retirement Community, Ensemble Health Partners, ProSource, Applied Behavioral Services and Q102.

Special thanks also goes out to all of the volunteers who assisted and to the City of Blue Ash and the Blue Ash Police Department for closing a portion of Plainfield and Cooper roads that served as part of the 5K route.

Check out an album of the day's full events on the UC Blue Ash College Facebook page.