Students, teachers and community members participated in the 30th annual Kirk Goodwin Run on Saturday. Every dollar that was donated will go toward helping the ACU students who were involved in the fatal car accident this past January.

The event, put on by members of Galaxy men’s social club, took place in memory of Kirk Goodwin who was a Galaxy member in 1983 while he ran as a member of ACU’s track team. Goodwin passed away in 1984 after he was involved in a car accident in the fall of 1983.

The event was organized this year by co-directors Aaron Brooks and Keith Carroll.

“This year’s run was a huge success,” said Brooks, junior marketing major from Burleson. “We had 200 participants this year and because of that we were able to exceed our goal of raising $10,000. We also expanded the race for the first time to include a 10k option as a trial run for the future and it went really well.”

This year’s race surpassed last year’s donation total of $7,000, which went towards benefiting the victims of the Nov. 4, 2011, bus accident.

“We had more runners than last year and sold almost 400 shirts and 80 tank tops, which was much more than past years,” said Carroll, senior marketing major from Abilene. “The overall atmosphere was what really made the event great this year. It was a lot of fun for people to show up and run or walk a 5k with their friends.”

Galaxy members have been organizing the event for the past 30 years to benefit a variety of causes in the Abilene community. It also acts as a positive way to remember the life of Goodwin while continuing to bring the community together around a cause.

“It was really cool to get out and see the community and build relationships while being active and supporting a good cause,” said Brie Buschman, junior communications major from Amarillo. “Whether you were running or walking it seemed like it was a really good time for everyone.”