Run for Community at $5 5Ks

Since 2013, runners, walkers and wheelers have gathered most Monday nights from March to October for TerraLoco’s $5 5Ks. Participation is hassle-free and requires little advance planning; simply show up, pay $5, set out at whatever pace you wish on a well-marked course, munch on post-run refreshments and have a chance to win one of several raffle prizes.

Five dollars is an excellent deal for an organized run on a marked course with post-activity refreshments. However, the money raised does not benefit the store; rather, 100% of proceeds are donated to a local charity every week. What may appear to the casual observer as a simple group run is actually sculpting community transformation in several important ways:

Donations to the featured nonprofit that help them reach more people in need 

Here is just one example of the impact: the $5 you pay to enter the weekly 5K is deftly transformed into 20 meals for people experiencing food insecurity by partner Channel One. If 80 people come that week, your Monday workout was just converted into 1600 meals for local families. Sorry, treadmills everywhere, you just can’t compete with that.

Increasing awareness of community resources

A strong community is one in which we take care of one another. Sometimes the greatest help is knowing where to direct a friend when life throws up challenges. At the beginning of each 5K, the featured nonprofit briefly shares their mission and some information about their programs. You never know when that knowledge may help you connect a friend/neighbor/coworker to the assistance they need. Boom – you didn’t just burn calories during your Monday workout, you torched hopelessness.

Building connections

Where do we even start here? Maybe you attend a $5 5K, discover a nonprofit with a mission that inspires and energizes you, get involved and are standing at registration in 2022 as the Volunteer of the Year. Perhaps you walk with someone during a 5K and are standing up in their wedding three years later. Quite possibly, you’re reading this with a nonprofit you’re already involved with in mind. You encourage them to apply, they are selected and, just by chance, one of the runners in attendance believes so strongly in the mission that she makes a major gift that helps launch a new program.

You know the feeling of cruising down the home stretch of a goal race? When you break out in goosebumps even though it’s 80 degrees out and attempt to swallow down the lump in your throat between gasps? It’s similar to the one arising from connections that manifest in friendships, life purpose and offering a hand up to someone who is down. That’s magic, folks. And it’s happening at $5 5Ks throughout the year.

Join us to run (or walk) for the change you want to see in our community. Applications for featured nonprofits for the 2020 season are being accepted through January 15, 2020. Click here for information. Make sure to “like” us on Facebook to see the weekly $5 5K event announcements and share them far and wide! You can also pick up a hard copy of the schedule in the store. Save the date for the next $5 5K on Monday, February 10 (the weekly schedule resumes in March).