Greetings True Bruins!

We want to wish a big thank you to the many Bruins from departments all across campus who participated in this year’s True Bruin Virtual 5K! In March, as Los Angeles began hunkering down for COVID-19 Safer at Home orders, the Staff Assembly Board was faced with a decision: cancel this year’s True Bruin Virtual 5K, or adapt to meet the moment.

“This is my second time doing the True Bruin Virtual 5K, and every time I do it I’m inspired by all the stories our fellow Bruins have to share. When I read we were doing a donation to the team at UCLA Health, I couldn’t wait to do the race. Love what you all are doing and thank you for encouraging the greater UCLA family to take care of ourselves and our incredible health care workers.”

Since this signature event has been virtual for years now –and because public health officials continued to encourage outdoor activity as a way to stay healthy while our state battles COVID-19– we were confident we could continue to offer this event to our Bruin community safely.

This included switching things up a bit this year:

  • First, our typical registration fee for the 7th Annual event was waived. Instead, participants were asked to donate to the #TeamLA Spark campaign to provide gift cards to front-line COVID healthcare staff at UCLA Health, resulting in nearly $6000 raised for this effort.
  • Next, we created a virtual 5K campaign that promoted health and wellness while acknowledging our pandemic atmosphere, including messaging for masks, social distancing, and more accessible options for participation (biking, walking, hiking).
  • Finally, we sought to produce a more streamlined event that focused on engagement versus competition, fun versus awards – though we still have some prizes in mind to celebrate our superstar participants.

And, with that, we’re pleased to announce and congratulate the 7th Annual True Bruin Virtual 5K Winner’s Circle:

Winners will be contacted this week with details on claiming prizes!

We’d also love to give a special shout out to our sister organization, UC Riverside’s Staff Assembly, for completing their Highlander Virtual 5K! Their virtual 5K followed the UCLA Staff Assembly model, featuring similar prize categories and the event “ran” from April 22 to June 19! #ucpride

Check us out on social media (@uclasa) for more True Bruin Virtual 5K content, including photos, testimonials from the participants, and more information on this year’s prizes. We look forward to hosting the True Bruin Virtual 5K again next year!

This Year’s Sponsors