On Saturday, Keough Hall held their annual chariot race at 10:15 a.m. on South Quad. This year’s race was in support of the charityReins of Life, a nonprofit organization providing therapeutic horseback riding to adults and children with disabilities.
Each section of Keough Hall raced one chariot to support the charity. Keough Hall president Gavin Hodge shared that the chariot building was a weeklong process, which began last Sunday. Additionally, two other dorms, Flaherty Hall and Lewis Hall, raced each other in a best-of-three competition. The ultimate result of the competition was Keough’s section 1A defeating all other Keough sections and Flaherty Hall defeating Lewis Hall in a tiebreaker after splitting their first two match-ups and tying the third.
Keough Hall vice president Tommy Stecz shared that this race is the dorm’s signature event of the year. Following a brief hiatus due to COVID-19, they are working to rebuild it to the larger chariot race that it used to be.
“I think this is a great event and I’m happy we had Flaherty and Lewis here to help support us,” Stecz said.
Stecz also shared that the chariot race became a charity event last year when the previous hall president chose Reins of Life as its charity. He described Reins of Life as “a great charity doing good work local to us,” and a charity that also ties back to the idea of a chariot race. He said that last year the event raised about $3,000.
Fr. David Murray, rector of Keough Hall, has participated in this event for the last three years as a rector or assistant rector. He shared that he was very happy with the number of participants, which both he and Hodge described as a great turnout with nine teams, 45 racers and more than 150 participants overall.
“I want to thank my hall president, Gavin Hodge, VP, Tommy Stecz, hall gov and all of their team. It was good to see Reins of Life… [and] to see all the Keough guys this early in the morning.”
Morgan Paeplow, events and projects director ofReins of Life, shared that the funds raised will go toward engaging programming for equine therapy.
Reins of Life was founded in 1978 and opened its first barn in the 1990s. She mentioned that last year, they served 750 people between their two barns. They have 35 horses ranging in age and breed, from large horses to small ponies, including Bolt, the pony brought to Keough’s event.