Community Scouting 5K Run

Community Scouting 5K Run is a scouting event that is intended to engage scouting with the local community. It can be coordinated at the Council, District or Unit level. It can serve several major purposes:

• Unit Recruitment
• Friends of Scouting - Community Campaign
• Promote Physical Fitness

Event Overview

Creating a race charity fundraiser can be a very rewarding experience. There are many different types of races you can create to raise money for charity. Whether you do a running, biking, triathlon, or any other type of race fundraiser, there are many great strategies for your race fundraiser to generate a lot of money and a lot of public awareness.

Organizing Your Race

Note: A Council task force could organize a series of races, rotating one through each district.

Planning Time

Experienced race organizers will tell you to allow 9 weeks advance time to do proper promotions and preparations for your event.

Calendar

Recommend during the winter months (Jan-Mar) for these reasons.

• Less of conflict with high school cross country tournaments
• Opens up a major recruiting session in what is otherwise a slow time for recruiting
• Lines up perfectly with the calendar for Friends of Scouting - Community Campaign.

Location

• Major Urban Park - This is best done at a major urban park with enough space to accommodate the event. You should be able to find one or two such locations in your areas.
• Remote Wilderness Park / Scout Camp - There is a large group of adult amateurs that relish the "new adventure" of exploring a major wilderness race in a outdoor location they have never been to before. A major wilderness scout camp or national forest setting, that is no more than 30-60 minutes from major urban centers could be ideal.

A important safety issue to avoid city streets or other traffic areas. Keeping the race on an entirely car free course is ideal.