Registration open for Park City Education Foundation’s Running with Ed

Running with Ed. Photo: courtesy of PCEF

PARK CITY, Utah — Registration is now open for the award-winning 14th annual fun run hosted by the Park City Education Foundation (PCEF), benefiting the Park City School District, Running with Ed.

This, the biggest PCEF fundraiser of the year, and involves families, teachers, non-school-district-related locals, visitors, first-time runners, and pros. You do not need to run to donate.

The course winds throughout Park City with transfer stations at the schools. There are shorter legs for shorter legs and longer legs for longer legs.

A party-like atmosphere greets participants at each school station and the party-to-end-all-parties welcomes teams at the Basin Rec Fieldhouse’s finish line. Carl Roepke, nine-time Olympics announcer, has been the Running with Ed race announcer in the past and told TownLift, “The entire day is fun, but the best part, for me, is seeing the multigenerational teams raise their arms, their exhausted arms in victory and high fives as the cross the finish line.”

The Eight Park City Education Foundation Initiatives are:

1. Preschool: Raise the odd for success. Lower the cost of preschool.

2. Elementary Visual Arts (EVA): Keep art in the picture.

3. Afterschool: Quality afterschool programs (K-9th) that work for working parents.

4. Educator and Student Wellness: Wellness is an essential subject.

5. Real World Learning: Putting STEAM to work.

6. Bright Futures: A college degree for first-generation students.

7. Classroom and Express Grants: Power a teacher. Launch a student.

8. Innovation Lab: Education ideas for the future from those who know best → educator voice in education.

Allison Zarkos volunteers as the Running with Ed. Fundraising Chair and Park City Mountain Grant Coordinator. She told TownLift, “The amount of volunteer hours that this community, puts in to organizing this fun small town race rivals any big city fundraiser around. Especially the school staff members, Running with Ed. is near and dear to their mission of providing students well-rounded education, and they truly ‘walk the walk.’

The competition within the competition is which team can create the crazy-cool costumes to out dress the others.

Without the Park City Mountain Grant, this event would not be the level it has become. 

Vail Epic Promise, Event Network, High Vibes Juicery and Wellness Bar, Need a Big Screen, Proforma Peak Marketing and Production Studio, and Stio join a host of other event sponsors. 

Running with Ed is on May 20, 2023.