Emma Bulpin poses with a Both Sides of the Heart poster.

Each year, Brock’s new Dramatic Arts students have to run 10 kilometres to complete their first year.

But this time, they’re doing it for charity.

On Saturday, April 9, first-year Dramatic Arts students will join dozens of others for Both Sides of the Heart, a 10-kilometre run on the soccer fields behind Brock’s Village Residence. The event will not only help students in their studies, but it will raise money for Start Me Up Niagara and the Marlene Moser Scholarship Fund.

People may not automatically connect running and Dramatic Arts, said David Fancy, chair of the department. But acting is about being in tune with one’s body.

“Actors are the athletes of the heart. They require physical endurance and emotional stamina,” he said.

Emma Bulpin, a third-year student who had a lead role in this year’s production of Phedre, is a co-organizer. With students already running 10 kilometres, she said, it made sense to add a fundraising element.

“If you’re putting this much effort into a goal, you might as well make it a bigger goal,” she said.

The run has grown to include more than just Dramatic Arts students, she said. Brock’s women’s rugby and soccer teams have joined. Members of the cross-country team will participate. Students from other departments, such as Business, are also running. Anyone who would like to collect pledges can run. For more information, email Bulpin at eb08tf@brocku.ca

Start Me Up Niagara is a St. Catharines-based organization that works with individuals to give them a better quality of life and level of self-sufficiency. The Marlene Moser Scholarship Fund is in memory of Marlene Moser, an associate professor of Dramatic Arts who died on Dec. 21, 2010.

The run is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The organizing committee is comprised of students Sarah Ashby, Meghan Féron, Tia Pavan, Julianna Cronk and Lewis Whiteley.

To make a donation, visit the Both Sides of the Heart table in the Mackenzie Chown A hallway on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m.