Saturday Feb. 27 UTSA’s Alumni Association hosted a record breaking 26th annual Diplobma Dash 5K, in which 1,345 runners and walkers participated.

“This the largest Diploma Dash we’ve ever had and this is our 26th year so that really says something for the fact that people like to exercise, they like to get out on a pretty day and they like to support scholarships,” Jane Findling Burton, assistant vice president of Alumni Programs said of the record -breaking participation.

At 8:15 a.m. a large crowd had already formed around the Convocation Center. The participants were there with family, friends, track coaches and colleagues.

“That’s wonderful to see because we promote this as a community family event for alumni, friends, neighbors and the UTSA community which is faculty and staff and our students”, Marcia Mattingly Marketing and Communications for the Alumni Association said.

At 9 a.m. the race began and 14 minutes and 24 seconds later the first runner crossed the finish line.

Westly Keating was the men’s overall first place finisher and is a professional runner who has been running the Diploma Dash for the past four years. This run is the fifth race in which he’s run. It’s also the shortest.

“I just liked it, it’s a nice event, it supports the university and anything that supports universities are pretty good,” Keating said.

The women’s overall first place finisher Hyvon Ngetich at 16:53.5, both winners received a plaque, a $350 check, Soler’s Sports shoes, a $50 gift card for Run On! and a Yamax pedometer.

The Alumni Association uses the money raised in the Diploma Dash for scholarships and to continue relations with alumni.