In the early hours of Saturday, Nov. 10, the normally desolate early morning streets were dotted with groups of students making their way to the starting line of the 113th running of the Freshman Cake Race, a Homecoming tradition at the Institute.
This year, a record-breaking 1,400 first-year students raced along the half-mile route starting at Fowler and 6th streets, turning towards Techwood Drive at Fowler and 4th, then turning once again down Techwood Drive before climbing Freshman Hill and ending in front of Peters Parking Deck on Fowler Street.
The event originated as a 5 km race to scout new recruits for the Institute’s cross-country team. When the wives of faculty members started making cakes and bringing them to the races, the Freshman Cake Race was born.
Racers competed for the much sought-after prize of an entire cake adorned with a posing Buzz statue. Organizers awarded the first, second and third-place finishers in each competition category with one of the nine cakes up for grabs.
Historically, racers were left with nothing if they were not able to secure one of the top spots, but these days, every racer is given a cupcake to mark their accomplishment.
There were three categories that students could enter to compete in: Men, Women and Open. The introduction of the open category is intended to increase accessibility and inclusion for people who do not identify as either male or female.
Before the race, students filed through check-in lines and fumbled with safety pins as they attached their racing bibs to their varied clothing. Most students stuck to casual sporting wear, but many students also chose to adorn costumes for the race, including banana suits and Roman togas.
“I got this for Halloween but then never got a chance to go out on it, so I figured this would be my best chance to show the world the hot dog,” said Dylan Radulski, first-year BME, on his choice to race in a hot dog costume.
The race started at 6:30 a.m. as organizers released the first wave of roughly 100 people onto the course.
The first wave of runners, who had to arrive more than 45 minutes early to claim their spots, sprinted to the finish line, and the two leading runners were separated by only a few paces 100 yards from the finish line.
Fifteen yards from the finish, the trailing runner looked to be gaining before stumbling and falling on the pavement, allowing the other runner to breeze across that finish line.
After the race, runners filled the tennis courts on top of Peter’s Parking Deck, enjoying their cupcakes. But many runners said they didn’t come out just for a cupcake.
“I wanted to participate in Georgia Tech traditions. And I just love racing and running,” said Hannah Andrews, first-year MSE. “I just like participating in Georgia Tech things because in high school, I wasn’t very connected to my school, but here I feel like I’m part of Georgia Tech, so I want to come out and represent my school. I didn’t do it for the cupcake, but the cupcake was pretty good.”
After all the racers had crossed the line, a member of the Ramblin’ Reck Club, the group that organizes the annual Freshman Cake Race, announced the top three runners in each category.
Eleanor Norton, first-year MATH, took the top spot in the women’s competition, Arthur Zhao, first-year ME, came first in the men’s category and Gabriel Mawanda, first-year AE, won the open category. Each winner told the Technique that they had prior experience running in high school.
“I wanted to [win]. I was joking to my roommates, ‘I’m gonna bring home a cake,’ but I wasn’t really all that sure,” Norton said. “I just wanted to get out and run, go fast and have fun.”
Zhao was with a group of his friends when the Technique spoke to him about his victory — he completed the course in 2 minutes and 8.9 seconds.
“I just like racing. I ran 800 in high school. So I was looking for the win today,” Zhao said. “I had everyone believe in me.”
Zhao said that he woke up at 5 a.m. for the race and blasted “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes on his speaker to wake up the rest of his dorm hall for the race. “Mo Bamba” wasn’t the only wake-up alarm for first-year students that morning.
Members of the Yellow Jacket Marching Band adorned their instruments and played Tech fight songs outside of freshman dormitories to wake up students for the race. Afterward, first-year band members participated in the race, running with their instruments on their backs over the half-mile course.
As runners fought their way to the end of the course, spectators lined the roads with homemade signs and noise machines, cheering the racers to the finish line. Andy Allen, third-year CE, stood halfway up Freshman Hill, clapping and cheering for runners as they passed. He said that he was there to “bully some freshmen” and “watch their pain” as they climbed the hill, but he also recognized the tradition of the race.
“[I] think it’s fun that it’s been going on for so long and that it’s still going, so I really like it. It’s the Freshman Cake Race, and it’s a great time to be alive,” Allen said.
Freshman Cake Race Subchairs Harrison Burnside, third-year BME, and Abby Upton, third-year CE, led the team within the Ramblin’ Reck Club organizing the race. They explained how the Freshman Cake Race impacts first-years on campus.
“I feel like we’re spreading joy; it’s a goofy tradition. Waking up at five, six in the morning to run a half mile in the dark and then eat a cupcake at the end. That’s not something that happens at many other schools. So that’s what makes Tech Homecoming really special for me,” Upton said.
Burnside added how Homecoming personally impacted his life when he was a first-year at the Institute.
“I vividly remember that Homecoming was one of the turning points that made me fall in love with Tech during freshman fall. I was starting to struggle academically and realized I was no longer the best at everything, and I felt out of place, but then Homecoming was a big part of the reason that I realized Tech has such an awesome community of people and, everyone really cares about this school and each other,” Burnside said.
In four years’ time, the students who ran the 113th Freshman Cake Race will graduate. Many will move on with their lives, entering the workforce, seeking graduate degrees and changing the world, but their connection to Tech will remain ever present — their memories of waking up early to run in the dark will be entered into the vault of shared experience that binds every member of the Tech community together. And then it will be the new freshmen who will experience the camaraderie, community and pride that comes with taking that first bite into a well-earned cupcake.