Biological Sciences faculty participate in 2022 Detroit Free Press Marathon Relay

When asked to participate in the 2022 Detroit Free Press Marathon, Dr. Lori Pile didn't hesitate to say yes. After all, she was part of the all-female masters championship team from 2019, the CLAS Women Warriors, which included the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Stephanie Hartwell.

Inspired by her example, Dr. Chaunzhu Fan joined other Chinese faculty from Wayne State to form an all-male masters team, WSU-CHI-RUN, that earned second place in 2021! This year, 25 faculty and staff from Wayne State, including Dr. Justin Kenney from biology, came together to form five separate relay teams that took part in the annual race. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, runners crossed the Ambassador Bridge into Canada and returned by the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

And, for the first time ever, participants ran through the Wayne State campus along Warren Avenue where members of the WSU athletic department manned water stations. In addition to running in the relay, Drs. Fan, Kenney and Pile regularly join other faculty and Dean Hartwell for "Run with the Dean" fun runs around Detroit. The training paid off with 2022 wins by WSU-CHI-RUN and the CLAS Women Warriors!