The 15th annual Run for the Roses, sponsored by the Ames Area Running Club and Alpha Omicron Pi, will be Sunday at the ISU track located at the Southwest Athletic Complex.

The event includes a 5-kilometer walk/run at 9 a.m. with the 10-kilometer road race to follow. Several age divisions will allow everyone a chance to win. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m. The entry fee is $18 if done by Oct. 13 and $20 on race day.

Proceeds from the run will be dedicated toward Arthritis Research Grants, a cause that $49,500 has been raised for since the inaugural run in 1987.

Alpha Omicron Pi president Andrea Wonderlich said the run raised $7,600 last year alone.

More than 1,100 people turned out for the event last year, said Wonderlich, senior in English.

She hopes to see even more interest this year.

Arthritis research is the national philanthropy of Alpha Omicron Pi. The sorority members contribute a lot of volunteer hours to the event, Alpha Omicron Pi member Jessica Taylor said.

“We’re the worker bees of the race,” said Taylor, junior in communication studies. “There’s not a girl in the house that doesn’t contribute.”

The Ames Area Running Club will handle the organizational and technical duties, including registration and recording the results.

According to the event’s Web site, one out of every seven people is affected by arthritis and the affliction costs the United States $8.6 billion each year in lost wages and medical costs.

Wonderlich said figures like that make the cause very worthy. Every participant will receive a red rose and a long-sleeved T-shirt.

Medals will be awarded to first- through third-place finishers in each age division of the two races.

As an added bonus, every runner will be treated to a custom-made omelet after they cross the finish line.

The members of Alpha Omicron Pi will do the cooking for the feast, which will be at the nearby Ames Middle School.

“I don’t know of any place that you can get an omelet breakfast cooked for you, while you wait, with your choice of fillings, when you get done,” registration coordinator Steph Bridges said.

Those who want to learn more about the event can contact Bridges at 232-3558 or log on to Alpha Omicron Pi’s Web-site at http://www.stuorg.iastate.edu/aopi/run.html.