A big chunk of the money comes from the annual community running relay Running with Ed.
Jen Billow, the foundation’s vice president for advancement, said anyone planning to participate in Running with Ed on May 17 can save $50 on their registration fee between now and March 31.
“We're in early bird registration now, which would save you $50 a person if you register now, it's $100 versus starting April 1, it'll be $150,” Billow said. “It's our great eight-leg relay race around Park City. If you have teams of eight, everybody can run a leg. There's a leg as short as 1.3 miles. There are legs that are six miles. There are legs up the stairs of the UOP or you can take a chair lift, It’s costumes, it’s community. A great finish party. And it just, a great local community event.”
Thanks to sponsors, all teachers and staff in the school district can run for free. That includes kids registered in the free and reduced lunch program. Teachers and students outside the district can participate for $50.
There are a handful of runners who run the entire 27.6-mile course on their own. Most others, Billow said, join a team.
“And teams can be any size you want,” she said. “So, if you will have four people and want to run two legs each, that's great. If you have two people who want to split it, if you have six people and you decide, I'm going to skip the two legs in the middle and just run into the field house from Trailside, we don't really care. We don't time the race. What's important is the costume contests, fundraising contest, the best exchange.”
Proceeds from Running with Ed support the foundation’s classroom grant program. Billow said the foundation has awarded almost 950 classroom and express grants since the program started in 1986.
“Teachers, administration, staff, as long as you're a Park City, school district employee, you can ask for money to fund something in your classroom or your school that you want to try,” she said. “So innovative things, or that you've been doing for a long time. It's a competitive process, but we grant about $250 to $300,000 every year in classroom and express grants.”
For more information and to register for Running with Ed click here.
