Last modified: Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Theme of 2013 Little 500 events at IU Bloomington: 'Philanthropy in Motion'
Women's and men's bike races set for April 19 and 20
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2013
Editors: A credentials request form for media can be found online. For information about Little 500 participants from your community, contact George Vlahakis at 812-855-0846 or vlahakis@iu.edu.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Now in its 63rd year, Little 500 at Indiana University Bloomington remains an important cycling event, and it also continues to be a crucial means of raising money for student scholarships.
The theme for this year's Little 500 activities is "Philanthropy in Motion." In addition to the women's and men's Little 500 bike races on April 19 and 20, there also is the Little Fifty, a running relay race, on April 14, and the Armstrong Golf Classic on April 19.
"Little 500 is, after all, a philanthropy. The proceeds support student scholarships, specifically those students who are working their way through IU," said Dana Cummings, IU Student Foundation director of development and student programs. "We want to make sure that everyone remembers that."
"Over the years, people have kind of forgotten what the Student Foundation was founded upon," added Melissa Wolter, assistant director of membership and student programs at the foundation. "We're just looking back at our history and our tradition and trying to bring it back to the forefront."
Last year, IU Student Foundation awarded about $183,000 in scholarships and grants. To date, more than $1.5 million has been awarded to IU students as a result of Little 500. More than 20,000 people attend one or both of the races every year.
The organization does not exist simply for one weekend in April. Through many activities throughout the year, it helps students develop leadership skills and teaches them about philanthropy and service learning.
Competitors in the bike races this year also are getting more involved with Little 500's philanthropic aspect. Individual team pages, "Cycling for Scholarships" have been created through Fundly.com, a third-party Web service. Using social media, teams will solicit support from friends, families and fans, and all money raised will go toward scholarships.
IU Student Foundation also partners with organizations in the community. For example, Girls Inc. of Monroe County has sponsored the Teter women's bike team, and in 2011 dozens of young women joined in the victory lap.
The 26th running of the women's Little 500 will begin at 4 p.m. Friday, April 19, at Bill Armstrong Stadium, near the intersection of 17th Street and Fee Lane. The following day, the 63rd running of the men's race will begin at 2 p.m.
Kappa Kappa Gamma has the pole in the women's race, and for the second straight year, Beta Theta Pi is in the top spot in the men's race. A complete field of 33 teams will be featured in both races, which are fashioned after the Indianapolis 500. Teams line up for the start in 11 rows of three. Starting positions are determined by qualifying times, with the fastest team nabbing the pole.
As with the Indy 500, winners of the Little 500 are immortalized on their version of the BorgWarner Trophy, which will go on display year-round at the Indiana Memorial Union, starting after the 2013 race.
All race competitors are amateurs and are full-time undergraduate students at IU Bloomington. As many as four riders can compete on a team. When one rider is tired, he or she exchanges the bicycle with a teammate. The women's race is 25 miles -- 100 laps on a quarter-mile cinder track. The men's race is 50 miles -- 200 laps on the same track.
Once again, both Little 500 races will be presented live nationally in high-definition television by AXS.tv, formerly HDNet; Xfinity customers will find it on channel 1241.
Little 500 has been the subject of numerous national news reports and sports broadcasts and an Academy Award-winning film, "Breaking Away." This year, a team of IU alumni and students are producing a feature-length documentary film, "One Day in April," which they hope to release next spring.
Other Little 500 cycling events include the Individual Time Trials at 4 p.m. April 3, the Miss-N-Out competition at noon April 6 and Team Pursuit at 1 p.m. April 14, all at Armstrong Stadium and free and open to the public. New this year is a series of practice races on Friday evenings.
Little Fifty takes place April 14, beginning at 5 p.m. for the women's event and at 7 p.m. for the men's event at Haugh Track. The Armstrong Golf Classic will begin at 8 p.m. at the IU Golf Course; advance registration is required.
Tickets for Little 500 race events are $25, $10 for children 12 and younger, and are available through Ticketmaster.com. Ticketmaster locations include the IU Auditorium Box Office; visit www.iusf.indiana.edu for more information.
Other events
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis will perform at this year's official Little 500 concert.
Other events on the IU Bloomington campus include the official Little 500 concert featuring Seattle rapper-producer Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. The duo burst out with the chart-topping single "Thrift Shop," which held the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks.
Special guests will be Wale and Talib Kweli. The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at Assembly Hall on the Bloomington campus. Tickets for the concert will be available at the Assembly Hall ticket office, IU Auditorium Box Office, Ticketmaster ticket centers and Ticketmaster.com. Tickets range from $25 to $45 for IU Bloomington students and $30 to $50 for the general public.
The Official Little 500 Step Show will begin at 7 p.m. April 20 at the IU Auditorium. This year's host will be Tiara Thomas, an Indianapolis singer-songwriter who has performed with Grammy-nominated rapper Wale and is signed to The Board Administration.
The event is co-sponsored by the Indiana Memorial Union Board, the National Pan-Hellenic Council and IU Student Foundation. Tickets are available at the IU Auditorium Box Office, Ticketmaster ticket centers and Ticketmaster.com. Tickets cost $12.50 for IU Bloomington students and $14.50 for the general public.
