By LESLEY GRAHAM
Sneakers? Check. Watch? Check. Pie? What?
When preparing for race day, most people aren’t thinking about sweet treats, but that’s exactly what Carrie Merritt and Erin Porter want to happen. It’s time to get ins-PI-red to run with the Ocean City Education Association’s Pi Day Run on March 14.
The inspiration for the Pi Day Run came back in 2015 when Merritt, a first grade teacher at the Primary School, was chair of the Ocean City Education Association PRIDE committee.
The PRIDE committee is a community building branch of the teacher’s union and it led Merritt and fellow primary school teacher Erin Porter to develop the idea of the Pi Day Run.
“We both love doing things that bring our schools and community together. As fitness enthusiasts and learning enthusiasts, we both felt like a Pi Day event would allow for a math and fitness extravaganza,” Merritt said.
Pi (often represented by the lowercase Greek letter π), one of the most well-known mathematical constants, is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
It has its own day every year, March 14, since the first three significant numbers are 3, 1, 4. Enthusiasts around the globe honor mathematics with a variety of activities and Ocean City is no different, getting in on all the Pi Day fun.
2020 will be the second running of the Ocean City school district Pi Day Run sponsored by the OCEA. To make the Pi Day Run more accessible, Merritt and Porter are sticking to years when Pi Day falls on a Saturday.
In 2015, just as in 2020, Pi Day was on a Saturday, allowing students, families, locals and visitors alike to participate in a one-of-a-kind fun race where getting pied in the face at the end is an option.
“We truly attempt to make our event fun, unique and exciting for the whole family – for both our school community and the OCNJ community at large,” Merritt said.
Participants meet March 14 at the Ocean City Community Center, 1735 Simpson Ave., and the race will begin 9 a.m. on the bike path at 18th Street and Haven Avenue.
There are two races, a 5K (3.14 miles) and a 1-miler. Cost is $10 for students, $15 for adults and $40 for a family of four.
Merritt and Porter are hoping to have 314 participants on race day as another way to honor the origins of Pi Day fun and need the public’s help to reach their goals.
“Our goal in 2015 – as it is now – is to get people excited or ‘Pi-red up’ for running, math, our OC schools and our OCNJ community,” Porter said.
So gear up all you athletes and mathletes out there and be a cham-Pi-on for the OCEA.
Use the link below to register for the family friendly event.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfV1LvsBMe7kZiYH3gxD82LeoyX7RbwjajEWuThbIQztwUE-g/viewform
