With a grand total of $200,787.82 raised and 21,789 laps run, this year’s Hit the Bricks was the event’s most successful iteration since its inception in 2003. 

The blaring music and colorful tents that lined the quad on Thursday morning marked the in-person return of the fundraiser for the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund. A total of 1,693 Wake Forest students and faculty formed teams and ran laps around Hearn Plaza until 7 p.m. 

“I ran with the Archery Club, and my favorite part of the event was giving and receiving encouragement within my team and from other teams there,” sophomore Murren Kelley said. 

While Hit the Bricks took place entirely virtually last year, this year’s fundraiser blended the online and in-person aspects of the event. Wake students participated on campus while parents, alumni, and community members took part virtually through “Wake Away Hit the Bricks,” organized by the WFU Alumni center.

Of the virtual participants, the mileage winner was Long Distance Deacs and Docs, which completed 326.58 miles. The fundraising winner was ‘Team Patti and Mimi,’ who raised $1,225.

As people arrived, Hit the Bricks organizers distributed ID cards that recorded distance traveled. Even if multiple people from a team were participating at once, only one card was allotted to each of the 146 participating teams.  

With the goal of completing as many laps as possible, teams earned ‘points’ both by physically running and by their fundraising efforts. 

“The more money your team earns for cancer research, the more laps you will be given,” a Hit the Bricks promotional poster reads. 

To keep things interesting, “specialty laps” took place during certain 30-minute-long intervals throughout the event; highlights included the ‘human wheelbarrow’ lap, the ‘professor’ lap, and the ‘anything but feet’ lap.

“I really enjoyed seeing everybody work together at Hit the Bricks,” freshman Aaron Nataline said. “Also, eating Zick’s [pizza] before my last lap was great.” 

The event concluded with a silent remembrance lap to honor those who have died of cancer.