With spring officially started, some students are using the end of winter and some mud to educate the campus about eating disorders.

Putnam Trail in Owen Park will become the grounds Saturday for the first annual Mud Run sponsored by the Students Against Eating Disorders and the Fun Runners. SAED is a new group of students organized to promote awareness and support for those affected by eating disorders.

Presidents/founders Jessica Pink and Kim Masters said they started the group last semester because they thought more attention needed to be placed on the growing problem.

“We wanted to give people struggling with eating disorders a voice, offer support and give everyone touched in some way by an eating disorder a chance to fight back,” Masters said, “to get involved and make a difference.”

Student members established SAED and its goals, Masters said. They received a temporary organization status from the UW-Eau Claire allowing them to focus on promoting their cause and generating support for their group.

This week, the group begins its first major event, as it gets involved with Eating Disorders Awareness Week, a worldwide celebration held yearly to promote a healthy and accepting body image for people of all ages.

On campus, SAED is sponsoring a week full of events for students and faculty, ranging from guest speakers to a “No

Calorie-Counting Day.”

The week’s main event will be on Saturday for community members to show their support by joining SAED and the Fun Runners in a Mud Run 5K run/walk along Putnam Trail.

The Mud Run is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and be followed by a social picnic at Owen Park for the event’s participants.

All of the money raised through the Mud Run will be donated to Ophelia’s Place and the Anna Westin Foundation, two national resource centers dedicated to the prevention and treatment of eating disorders.

The event’s top two runners and walkers will be awarded a prize, and all participants will be entered into a raffle for prizes as well.

Mud Run participants also will receive T-shirts if they raise $50 or more in pledges, Pink said. For registration forms and more information about donations, students and faculty can visit the SAED’s booth in the Davies Center all week, or stop by the Student Senate office in Davies 132.

SAED member Jill Sitzman said the organization is a new and expanding group open to new members.

Students can get involved by attending meetings at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday nights in the Fire Council Room of the Davies Center, she said.

SAED also offers a weekly support group for friends, family members or anyone directly or indirectly affected by an eating disorder. It is held at 8 p.m. Wednesdays in the Potowami Room of Davies.