Howard County Teens Rank Top Score in Race2College Second Year Race

BALTIMORE - Nov. 3, 2013 - PRLog -- Race2College held its second annual running and walking race at the nation's third oldest park, Druid Hill Park, in Baltimore City on Sunday Nov. 3rd, 2013. Runners took advantage of an extra hour of sleep and trickled into the park around 8:00 am to embark on a 5K race motivated by securing a brighter future for college students, strengthening family ties and empowering youth. The 5K race was a little over two laps around the beautiful lake on the southern side of Druid Hill Park. This year the race organizers made sure that all ages could have a say in the mission, and five brackets for participants as young as 5 were setup. The brackets were 7 years of age and below, 8 through 11, teens from 12 to 17, college adults 18 to 22, and adults above 22.

The top two positions in the race were secured by Jake Parker of Howard County, who attends River Hill High School at 19 minutes and 30 seconds; and Mostafa Halawa from Clarksville Middle School at 21:30.

Third place teens came Nada Ibrahim of Towson High School. First place pre-teens was secured by Jadyn Peterson of Bryant Woods Elementary, followed by Maryam Hijazi of Brooke Grove Elementary, third place was a tie between Maryum Nassar and Jannah Nassar of Clarksville Middle and Elementary Schools.

Ali Yusuf of University of Maryland Baltimore County topped the college adult bracket followed by Moustafa Nassar of Towson High School and Ahmed Ibrahim of University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

The adult bracket top score was achieved by Hassan Bashir, a student at University of Maryland, Baltimore County who came in also as third place overall at 21:51. In his bracket Bashir was followed by Muhammad Ishaq and Wail Hijazi of Prince George's and Montgomery Counties respectively.

The race brought a diverse group of participants from several localities in the Central Maryland region. The 2013 Race2College has received a Congressional Achievement Award from Congressman Elijah Cummings, Certificate of Recognition by Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore City, and Congratulatory Resolution by Baltimore City Council, Office of the President Bernard Jack Young. The 2012 Race2College event was held in Howard County and received a proclamation by Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.

The race occured after a short welcome statement by Grand Marshall David Berdan, Garrison Forest’s Middle School science teacher and Cross Country coach, who won the 13th annual Baltimore Running Festival on October 12, 2013. Berdan discussed the significance of college education and the role it played in his life as an educator.

Race2College applications for the 2014 fall semester scholarships will be available on Nov 30, 2013. High school juniors and seniors as well as college students are encouraged to apply. For details about Race2College please visit http://www.race2college.org

Schools, businesses and youth centers are invited to sponsor Race2College by making a contribution by check to Race2College, PO Box 726, Clarksville, MD 21029. All contributions are tax deductible and will allow Race2College to fund scholarships for the upcoming academic year.


Race2College is a project of the Islamic Leadership Institute of America, a 501c(3) educational and research organization focused on developing empowered communities through transformational leadership, nurturing all students regardless of faith.