Auburn University’s Engineers Without Borders chapter raised over $40,000 with its annual Water Cycle race, rides and Dam Jam Saturday at Lake Martin with 125 participants.
“We had a good group today," said Sam Gwin, first-place 60-mile men’s winner. "We worked well together.“
The event had three routes attendees could choose from, a 60-mile route, a 30-mile route and a 15-mile route. The 60-mile route was the only one participants raced each other in.
“[This] is a great out for someone to get physically and mentally strong. I started when Covid happened, didn’t have anything else to do, so I jumped on a bike, and here I am now,” said Doree Nelson, second place 60-mile women's winner.
Organizing and preparing for the race was no small task. Heavy rain left part of the trail washed out, requiring a change in the original route.
“It was extremely muddy and rocky and some of the mud was like quicksand,” Nelson said.
Despite the recent heavy rain and freezing temperatures, the weather was fair and windy for the day of the race.
“Thankfully the weather was fairly reasonable today so it made it a little more enjoyable,” said Grant Vickwit, 30-mile participant.
Grant Vickwit, a 30-mile participant, spoke about his training leading up to the event.
“[My partner and I] both do a lot of outdoor endurance-oriented activities,” said Vickwit.
Savanna Wooten, an Auburn environmental science grad student and 15-mile participant added that there are options for people to train on a bicycle, even if they don’t have one at home.
“Auburn Students can rent bikes from The Rec (Auburn University Recreation and Wellness Center) at any point in time,” said Wooten.
Though e-bikes usually need less endurance per mile, e-bike riders were invited for the 30- and 15-mile non-race routes.
“We embrace them, we say come on out,” said Christian Brodeck, director of engineering research operations at Auburn University. “The more [participants] the merrier.”
Forty volunteers, mostly Auburn students, worked to bring this event together. Most of the volunteers are associated with the Auburn chapter of Engineers Without Borders, an on-campus organization that volunteers to design and build projects that “meet basic human needs.”
The Auburn chapter works with three communities. One is located in Bolivia, another in Guatemala and another community in Tennessee.
The funds raised at this event will go toward the projects in Bolivia and Guatemala. The Guatemala project will involve rebuilding a 35-year-old water system to deliver water to 177 homes. The project in Bolivia aims to build a large water tank connected to an irrigation system that will allow local farmers to increase crop rotations from one per year to two or three.
Engineers Without Borders aims to change the lives of people around the world. Fundraising Chair for the Auburn chapter and Team Lead for the Bolivia project, Gavin Valentine, is one person whose life path was altered by the organization.
“I started as an aerospace engineer, but after being with this group for almost a year now I switched to biosystems because a lot of work we do is irrigation work,” Valentine said. “It’s given me a lot of firsthand experience and logistics.”
People looking to get involved with the Engineers Without Borders chapter or keep up with its upcoming events can follow them on social media or visit their website.
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