Photo by Malissa Smithey

(CMU math professor Phil Gustafson is joined by his eight-year-old son Andrew for the NSTA's 5K Fun Run. For completing the run, Andrew received a small medal and a prize of his choosing: a set of plastic fangs.)

For eight-year-old Andrew Gustafson, the hardest part of his first 5K was the final stretch.

And his favorite moment was beating his father, CMU mathematics professor Phil Gustafson at a math-themed ring toss game three quarters of the way through the race.

“Yeah, I won,” Andrew said, fiddling with the pair of plastic fangs resting in his hands — his self-selected prize for completing the run with his father.

The CMU chapter of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) held  its second annual 5K Fun Run Saturday, March 8, at Canyon View Park.

“One of our main focuses is to emphasize STEM (science, technology, engineering and math),” NSTA advisor and teachers’ education professor Jennifer Daniels said, referring to the four corresponding learning stations set up along the race course.

“They’re just quick little experimental activities, so the runners can catch their breath and learn something,” Daniels said.

The stations featured interlocking building blocks, a Van de Graff generator (the large metal orbs that produce hair-raising static electricity) and a numbered ring toss game, to name a few.

Between the 15 participants who registered for the race at $30 apiece for early online registration and $35 for standard registration, Daniels estimates the club made around $400, putting it one step closer to being able to send select members to Boston for the NSTA National Conference April 2-6.

Nicole Thornton, president of the campus NSTA chapter, was rooting for two runners specifically: her mother and father, Denai and Perry Thornton, regular half-marathoners who braved the winter road conditions, driving from Loveland Friday to be able to run the 5k.

“Last year, it was freezing and windy, but we did it to support the club,” Denai said. “This year, we won in our age group because we were the only ones. So, we won and lost.”

cblackme@mavs.coloradomesa.edu