What’s black and white and runs all over? Barry holds its first Nun Run to find out

You didn’t have to be a nun to participate in Barry University’s first Nun Run Saturday morning.

But about 400 people certainly were in the spirit — and dozens ran in nun’s habits — on the clear morning on the Barry Campus Mall in Miami Shores. The inaugural Nun Run was part of Barry’s Homecoming/Reunion Weekend.

Some of the participants “pray” for a good race in Barry University’s inaugural Nun Run on Feb. 16, 2019, in Miami Shores.

Courtesy Barry University

There were two lengths, a 5K and an 8K, and the age range of the participants was vast — 6-years-old to 79, said a spokeswoman for Barry. Wasn’t all locals, either. Ryker Wall from California won the 5K.

Barry University President Sister Linda Bevilacqua with Sarah Sellers at the inaugural Nun Run from the Miami Shores campus on Feb. 16, 2019. Sellers is a Barry alum. She was the Nun Run’s 8K winner and she came second in the 2018 Boston Marathon.

Courtesy Christine Bucan

For another winner, Nun Run was a true homecoming. Barry alumna Sarah Sellers won the 8K. Sellers, who works as a nurse anesthetist in Tucson, Arizona, had surprised everyone — including herself — when she won second place in last April’s Boston Marathon on a wet and windy day.

Alas, Sellers ran in traditional running wear for both races. That’s her habit and it seems to be working for her.

And, nope, apparently no actual nuns ran in Nun Run, a spokeswoman said, but Barry’s president, Sister Linda Bevilacqua, was at the finish line waiting to greet Sellers and the other finishers.

Nun Run paid homage to the Adrian Dominican Sisters, founders of the university.