The cross country teams organized the first annual Cross Country Extravaganza to fundraise for the team and connect the Northborough-Southborough community on June 12.

Seventy people consisting of parents, current runners, students, and alumni came together to walk or run a 5k over the cross country course on the school’s trails.

The event was inspired by other 5ks in the past.

“There was an Algonquin 5k in the past few years, and it was for scholarships,” girls’ cross country coach Brian Kellett said. “But the interest was a little low. We thought we would adopt that and turn it into a cross country event for the teams.”

The team raised over $700, with funds going towards Algonquin’s cross country teams.

“I was just so amazed with the support that we got and it was great seeing the fact that just so many people were interested in running a 5k for fun, and we benefited so much from that,” junior Noah Brazer, captain of the boys’ cross country team, said.

“Cross country usually doesn’t have a very big budget, so any extra money will go a long way,” junior Annelise Eppen, captain of the girls’ cross country team, said.

According to Brazer, seeing alumni back on the track was exciting.

“It was a good experience to talk to them again and see where they’ve gone since they stopped running cross country,” Brazer said.

Eppen believes the event brought positive attention to the teams.

“I think this is a great way to get people excited for cross country in the future because it’s kind of one of those forgotten sports,” Eppen said. “I’m glad that people who don’t normally do cross country got excited about it.”

Though a success, Brazer hopes more people can get involved next year.

“I think that next year we should open it up to people who aren’t necessarily on cross country but would be happy to run a 5k and support the cross country team,” Brazer said.

Eppen hopes the event encouraged participants to join the cross country season in the future.

“I hope that we got some middle school recruits,” Eppen said. “I hope we also got some recruits who go to Algonquin and don’t do cross country because we have a lot of fun. The coaches are a lot of fun and I think we really did a good job making it seem like a good program.”