RED DAY RUN

By Erika Williams The 2020 RED Day Run, Edmond’s largest charitable run, will take place on May 9th in downtown Edmond. RED stands for renew, energize, donate, and RED Day was introduced by Keller Williams in 2009 with the intention of giving back to the community.

“Keller Williams was committed to going out in the community that they worked in and dedicate a day to help people in need,” said Penny Tully, RED Day Run chair. “For a couple of years, we would go out and paint a building or work in someone’s yard, what have you. But six years ago, our office decided that if we did a road race, we could raise money, give it to local charities, and actually reach more people.”

The first RED Day Run took place in 2015 at Mitch Park. Penny says that the first race had around 400 participants and over $35,000 were raised. Since then, the race has expanded, and moved to downtown Edmond. To date, $466,500 has been raised for various local charities.

Said Penny, “It’s been a lot of fun to see how it has just grown exponentially. Our goal is not only to continue to raise money, but to make this a big community event.” The RED Day Run attracts many charities and sponsors. Penny says that the help from these organizations has helped the race become a fun event for everyone involved. “Our charities help us a lot, Wings stuffs our swag bags, Folds of Honor provides a color guard for us to start the race. Peppers Ranch provides a kid corral to keep kids entertained while their parents are running the race,” said Penny. “In

addition to the actual race, all of our sponsors that give at a certain level, get to have a tent at the race. So, they’re handing out goodies. It’s a very festive atmosphere. We’re within walking distance of downtown Edmond and the Edmond Rail Yard. It’s just a wonderful way to spend this on a Saturday morning for a good cause.”

Eight charities have been named as recipients for the funds raised at this year’s event: Caleb’s Cause Foundation, Edmond Public Schools Foundation, Folds of Honor, Make a Wish Oklahoma, Peppers Ranch, Wings Special Needs Community, Project 66 Food and Resource Center, and Edmond Mobile Meals. Penny says that choosing the charities is challenging, but they set aside a small percentage of the funds for charities that aren’t selected so that everyone gets something.

Penny says that choosing the charities is difficult, but the main goal is to ensure that the funds raised will make an impact at the local level. Penny says that the committee also aims to choose a variety of charities that represent several different interests.

“I cannot stress enough how hard it is to pick the charities. Everybody’s doing really great work,” said Penny.

Last year, $186,500 was split between seven different charities. Runners decide how much money the selected charities will receive by voting for a charity when they register.

“Our race has all these nuances to it. We don’t have a lot of overhead, which really is wonderful. When people sign up to either support our race as a sponsor or as a runner, they can rest assured that the money is going to the charity,” said Penny. “Everybody votes. If you register for the RED Day Run, you vote for the charity of your choice, and the charities are awarded money based on the number of votes they get.” Runners can register for the event at reddayrun. com. Registration is $40 for ages 13 and older and $20 for ages 12 and under. Runners will receive a t-shirt and a swag bag. The RED Day Run fun run will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the 5K will start at 9 a.m. on May 9th. People of all ages and ability are welcome to participate.

“We are a US track and field certified 5K race. As a result, we have the prizes for the required age groups.” Said Penny, “We have all kinds of people participate. From one year old up to 90 years old. Last year, we also had a wheelchair division, which that was pretty awesome to have them participate in our race. Everybody’s welcome, and it’s really fun.”

This year, Penny hopes for the race to have over 1250 participants and raise over $250,000. “It’s going to be a challenge, but you know, our vision is that someday the RED Day Run will raise $1 million. Why dream small? Why not us in Edmond? We have a lot of really great people involved with the race to help make it a success,” Said Penny.