CULLMAN, Al. – East Elementary School’s fourth annual Shamrock Shuffle is in the books and this year’s event saw over 200 runners hit the streets to help support their school. Saturday morning’s weather was near perfect for participants and as a result, this year’s color run went off without a hitch. The East Elementary School PTO sponsors the event, which is meant to bring members of the community together to have fun and promote an active lifestyle, as well as raise funds for the school.
EES Principal David Wiggins was thrilled to see a crowd at the starting line and no rain in the forecast. The race does a lot to benefit the school and its students, so he was grateful for the support the community showed.
“This is an exciting day. We started this a few years back with about 70 runners on a rainy, cold morning in March and to see it this year with over 200 runners on a beautiful morning with no rain in sight is awesome. I just can’t say enough about what the PTO has done for this school,” Wiggins said. “Our students benefit directly from this and our staff benefit directly from this. This is a community event and it shows our kids that its important to stay active and be healthy and of course when everybody comes out it just means the world to us.”
With the spread of coronavirus postponing and canceling events all over the globe, a morning of levity on a sunny day was a fun way for people to relax. Wiggins credited the school system for being proactive in its response while also allowing Saturday’s event to go ahead.
“Parents have been coming to us this morning and saying, ‘Thank you for doing this’ and ‘Thank you for not canceling’ and I said, ‘You’re welcome but that credit goes to Dr. (Susan) Patterson’. I called her first thing yesterday morning and she’s been working so well with the state department and informing us daily of what’s going on,” Wiggins said. “When I called her, I said I have two questions and the first thing I have to ask about is the Shamrock Shuffle. She said ‘Absolutely. It’s outdoors with lots of space and everyone’s separated’ and she gave me a litany of reasons for why it should go on and the most important one was that its important for the school and the community.”
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