Anyone who’s been to a football game knows how this one goes. Before the football team even takes the field, the crowd rumbles in anticipation. South Park’s Eric Cartman does the honors. With a loud booming voice, the cartoon character announces, “Here comes Ralphie!” And like a bullet out of a gun, the legendary CU-Boulder mascot runs alongside her handlers on to the field.
The Ralphie Run is soon to be a 50-year tradition. One year after Ralphie was donated in 1966 to CU, she began running the field before the games. But the amount of work that goes into caring for Ralphie is often unseen and unknown.