The Alpha Gamma Delta and Dodds House teams celebrate with a team dinner.
Front row from left: Dan Houchens, Jen Sherman, Kristen Olsen, Kate Middleton, Nola O Downell and Graham Clifford. Back row from left: Jena Friedman, Laura Miller, CIN Vice President Andy Williams, Chris Chartier, J.P. Knoll, Bill Marvin, Amy Pervis, Jonathon Pervis (advisor to the Indiana University President), Aaron Knapp and Mike Shearer
The end of the race draws near with the Rogers team (purple) in the lead.
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The Little 500, a bike race modeled after the Indianapolis 500, was founded by the Indiana University Student Foundation (IUSF) in 1951. Rogers Group is the longest continual corporate sponsor of the race (almost fifty years), sponsoring both a men's and a women's team.
This year, Rogers Group sponsored the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority team and the Dodds House team. Prior to the race, Account Manager Bill Marvin and his wife, Pat, welcomed the teams into their home for “Carb Day,” when team members load up on spaghetti, bread and ice cream. A week after the race, the teams are honored with a cookout hosted by Rogers Group and the Indiana University Student Foundation.
For the men’s team, the Little 500 includes 200 laps around a quarter-mile cinder track. For the women, the race is 100 laps. Teams, made up of as many as four riders, are given two one-speed Schwinn bicycles that have to meet rigid specifications in order to be used. The riders treat the race much like a running relay; when one rider is tired, he or she exchanges the bicycle with a teammate.
Race Results: The men’s team finished fourth where the top five teams were within a tenth of a second. After being involved in two disastrous wrecks the women’s team fought their way up to finish in eighth place.
The Little 500 is much more than a bike race. It is the biggest intramural event on campus and the largest collegiate bike race in the United States. Going into its 57th year, the Little 500 also boasts a tradition like few other college events. More than 20,000 people attend the races every year, with the proceeds used for working student scholarships at Indiana University. The 2007 races will allow IUSF to give away over $35,000 in scholarships to working university students.
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