ORONO, Maine — An estimated 800 University of Maine students, staff and volunteers gathered on Wednesday to raise awareness of sexual assault during the ninth annual Healthy High 5K and 10K races as well as a 1-mile run-walk that, for some, was more of a hobble.
About 30 UMaine athletes who belong to Male Athletes Against Violence were a sight to behold as they took turns walking in a dozen pairs of shiny red high-heeled pumps as part of their second annual “Man Enough to Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” awareness event.
“We’re symbolically walking in these high heels to show our support for stopping abuse on women and rape on women just to show that we’re here to care and that it’s a man’s issue,” said Chase Hoyt, the group’s student coordinator.
Hoyt said he got involved in the organization and the walk after last year’s coordinator introduced him to what it was all about.
“I was raised by my father so I really didn’t have a woman in my life to show me how you should really support women and how you should really treat women,” he said.
“Participating in this group, it really changed my mind on the whole aspect of what a real man really is,” he said. “A real man is somebody who cares for their family and who cares about the betterment of a person and not about themselves because selfish men are people who care about what people really think when it really doesn’t matter what people think, it matters what you do,” he said.
Sandy Caron, the group’s founder and director and a UMaine professor of family relations and human sexuality, said the point of “Man Enough to Walk a Mile in her Shoes” is to bring attention to the challenges of being a woman and to raise awareness about sexual and other violence against women.
She said she bought the shoes — in sizes 10 to 17 — by mail order after being unable to find what she needed locally.
The annual race and walk, which began at 4:20 p.m. outside UMaine’s New Balance Student Recreation Center, aimed to promote health and wellness in the community.
This year, UMaine’s Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Prevention Committee sponsored the free mile-long run and walk. Participants in the that event were encouraged to wear teal — the ribbon color for sexual assault awareness.
Proceeds from the 5K and 10K races will benefit the UMaine Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism and the Black Bear Exchange food pantry and clothing exchange.