By Annie Russell
Features Editor
The smell of cinnamon doughnut cakes and cotton candy touched the air as the sparkle of neon lights lit up the atmosphere. The constant sound of music from the DJ led the vibe for the night with students rushing to the front to dance.
“It’s great, it’s actually been a pretty large turn out,” junior biochemistry major and junior year experience staff member Yvette Hernandez said. “Each time it’s gotten bigger.”
Besides the normal booths and event games Runner Nights has produced in the past, like cartoon illustrations and the super-slide, students were also offered much more to do such as: balloon darts, a psychic reading, photo shoots, trivia and strength test.
The most popular of the night was the Ferris wheel that had a line of students from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
CSU Bakersfield swimmers got the crowd rallied up and pumped as they waited to be dunked in the dunk tank.
Unlike the past Runner Nights, students rushed to the dance floor showing off their best moves while the DJ kept lively beats streaming through the night.
“It’s a lot of fun, more fun than I thought it would be,” said junior theater major Phoebe Pyne.
“Everyone is having fun it looks like,” said senior political science major Gilberto De La Torre holding his prizes. “I like the games.”
Besides the activities, students were also given two free tickets for food and dessert. Students could choose between fries and corn dogs from The Curbside Kitchen or nachos provided by the school.
For dessert students were given either the choice of cotton candy or mini cinnamon doughnuts from Baby Cake Donuts.
This Runner Nights event has been the standout from all the other Runner Nights hosted at CSUB.
“It’s been absolutely well, we exceeded our past numbers,” said philosophy and political science major Mike Kwon.
An estimated 1,500 students attended last week’s Runner Nights event exceeding last fall’s Runner Nights numbers and surpassing attendance from the Alessia Cara concert.
“We had 960 students last fall,” said Poole. “That was for the first one that we had which was the carnival and haunted house.”
In regards to a smooth running event, the Whack-a-Mole promised to students was nowhere to be found.
“The Whack-a-Mole, I think there was a mix up,” said Poole. “They brought the water game instead of the Whack-a-Mole. But again it was more people, 17 people were able to play that, where the Whack-A-Mole was only 14 players. So I think it worked out.”
For those who missed the first Runner Nights of the year, there will be more to come. Next will be held on Oct. 28, with a Halloween theme.
