As Nathen Brito crossed the finish line at the Go Big Green 5K on October 2, his competition was nowhere to be found, and was nearly a minute behind him. The 24-year-old runner finished in 18:20, one minute more than his previous year running the same 5K, but he still picked up a first place overall win.

Brito said he had been taking it easy preparing for the 5K to benefit the Dartmouth High School Class of 2018, as he had just finished a run in the Lehigh Valley Marathon in Pennsylvania last month.

“I had no strategy, I just run,” Brito said. “I do 5Ks all the time.”

The Go Big Green 5K is now in its fourth year, according to race organizer and Dartmouth High School English teacher Meg Rogers. This year, with 118 pre-registered runners and approximately 50 people who registered the day of the race, it was the biggest turnout to date.

“It’s our biggest number so far, which is very positive,” Rogers said. “Our kids are really good at getting the word out,” she said, adding that student volunteers helped create posters and cards and raise awareness about the 5K on social media.

Dartmouth High School principal John Gould could be found at the starting line, determined to participate in the 5K to show his support for the event and the hard work his teachers and students put into running it every year.

“It’s a great community event,” Gould said. “I make a point to participate in it every year.”

Each year, a student group at Dartmouth High School helps to organize the 5K and receives the profits from the event. For the second year in a row, the Class of 2018 used the event to help raise money for senior activities. Profits from the 5K will help pay for the senior prom, senior week events and other activities the future senior class has planned.

“Every year we need to fundraise so students don’t have to pay for senior activities themselves,” said Class of 2018 Vice President Noah Goldberg. He noted that fundraising to offset the costs of senior activities helps keep the events inclusive and accessible to everyone.

“We have a great turnout this year,” Goldberg said. “It’s great to see everyone come together to have fun.”

While it will take time to determine just how much money the event brought in, Rogers said last year’s 5K netted the Class of 2018 $3,000 after deducting race costs. She said she expects this year’s 5K to raise even more money, because race costs were covered by a number of sponsors this year.

“Local sponsors ended up covering all of our race costs this year, so we should get all of the profits,” Rogers said.