A sunny Saturday afternoon presented Athens locals with the perfect weather to hit the bike path for the 2025 Bubble Bash 5k. Participants gathered at the Athens Community Center, located at 701 E State St., taking off for the race promptly at 2 p.m. Bubble and foam zones populated the course for participants to run through.
The race cost $15 for participants who were 18 and up and $10 for those under 18. The race was intended to be a fun event and was not competitively timed. Athens residents Tim and Deanna Wasserman were excited to engage in a healthy community-oriented activity.
“Rallying around non-drinking, non-bar things in Athens is always good,” Deanna Wasserman said.
The Wassermans were also excited to run into the giant pile of bubbles at the end and enjoyed watching the kids have fun in the time before the race.
The event also allowed residents to donate to a local agency called My Sister’s Place. My Sister’s Place is a domestic violence program that serves Athens, Hocking and Benton counties; it has been serving local municipalities since 1977. The organization’s main goal is to provide a haven for domestic abuse victims, providing wraparound holistic services to anyone experiencing any type of relationship abuse.
“Getting everyone involved and raising awareness about important organizations like My Sister’s Place is good,” Tim Wasserman said. “It’s also just nice to bring the community together and see people that either you know or don’t know, get people out of their houses.”
Kelly Madewell, the executive director of My Sister’s Place, explained the services the organization provides for survivors of domestic violence.
“We have an 11-bed emergency shelter in Athens,” said Madewell. “We also provide counseling, court advocacy and case management outside of the shelter, and we also provide transitional housing.”
This is the first time My Sister’s Place has collaborated with Bubble Bash. Madewell said the agency was emailed asking if it would be open to being a recipient of the donations for the event, and Madewell was happy to receive donations. Participants were encouraged to bring toiletries to donate at the event.
“We provide basic toiletries to everyone in the shelter and we just go through a lot of items,” Madewell said. “It’s all for folks who are staying with us.”
Residents were encouraged to bring toiletries such as soap, towels and shampoo. Each donation in return provided a raffle ticket toward a pool membership. The winner of the raffle was given either an individual or family pool membership.
Students and alumni were also excited to partake in a productive charitable activity. Grace Link, a junior studying communication studies, Emma Dubler, a post-grad saleswoman, Carson Sarver, a law, justice and culture graduate student and Caroline Diana, a junior studying psychology, all participated in the race.
The group was excited to be active Saturday and participate in a positive group event as well as contribute to the donations.
Michelle Wanless, an HR coordinator, was also eager to run in the race and looked forward to helping out a local agency.
“To raise money, donations for area programs, support the community, I think is really important,” Wanless said.
