Hap Hudson Road Race Set for Mississippi College Homecoming 2010

Hap Hudson

Hap Hudson runs 30-second sprints and mixes in a little walking to stay in shape five days a week.

The 74-year-old Clintonian will vary his exercise routine on the morning of October 16^th. Hudson will shoot a gun that Saturday to start the 3^rd annual Hap Hudson 5K race, part of the Mississippi College Homecoming at his alma mater.

More than 200 runners are expected to begin the race at Cockroft Hall, home of the MC Department of Kinesiology, wind through historic Clinton and cross the finish line at Robinson-Hale Stadium. Registration begins at 6:30 a.m. at Cockroft Hall and the race starts promptly at 8 a.m. Advance registration costs $15 and it is $20 the day of the race. All participants receive T-shirts.

The road race not only honors Hudson. It helps the MC Department of Kinesiology raise money for a scholarship that’s also named for the active Clinton resident. One kinesiology student per year receives the scholarship.

“I think it is great,” Hudson said of the third annual road race. “Hopefully it will become a tradition. This brings in money for a scholarship. This is really good for the department.”

Hudson has many admirers all over Central Mississippi and beyond. Last year’s race attracted 221 runners, and many of them are fans of the longtime Mississippi College educator and coach.

A 1959 MC graduate who played center on the Choctaws football team, Hudson said he turned to running and walking as a way to lose weight 35 years ago and hasn’t stopped. During his coaching career at MC, his weight ballooned up to 230 pounds in 1975 and he decided it was time to get into a fitness kick. His weight is down to 180 pounds.

Hudson doesn’t limit his exercise program to Clinton. “I try to do some kind of running wherever I go,” he said. Out of town, the Dallas native will hit the hotel fitness center. 

 A physical education major with a master’s in education in 1964, Hudson retired in 2004 after 34 years of physical education teaching, coaching and serving as an MC athletic trainer. But he’s actually still teaching an athletic training class one night a week for the MC Department of Kinesiology. The course covers such topics as the care and prevention of injuries.

Year-round, Hudson and his wife, Johnnie Ruth, are big-time supporters of MC Choctaws athletics.

For more information on the road race, contact race coordinator Suzanne McDonough, a professor of kinesiology at 601.925.7720 or SMcDonou@mc.edu. A registration form may be downloaded at http://www.mc.edu/faculty/smcdonou.