BOERNE, Texas – Charity 5K walks and runs are a popular way to raise money for a cause, but not everyone is the athletic type. If the promise of free beer and donuts is more likely to motivate your philanthropy, we have found the charity event for you. The Boerne 0.5k.
The May 5 event starts across from the Dodging Duck brewpub where participants will be offered a free pint of beer. It ends at another brewpub, the Cibolo Creek Brewing Company, which is also offering a free pint of beer for participants.
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“Very, very conveniently, they are exactly 0.5K away from each other, or at least close enough to 0.5K that we can lie and say that it is exact,” said Jay Milton. He is the event organizer, but he says he prefers the term “Czar.”
In case you need a little help envisioning how far .5 kilometers is, it’s just under one-third of a mile. If that still seems too long to “run” all at once, don’t worry, there will be a coffee and donut station at the halfway point “for carb loading and energy.”
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And just like in those longer races, participants in the .5K will be given plenty of race souvenirs so they can brag to their friends. Obviously, everyone will get a race T-shirt and a participation medal. All finishers will also get a photo at the finish line and “… a pretentious oval Euro-style 0.5K sticker that you can attach to your rear windshield.”
The treatment is even better for people who don’t want to run the race at all. People can pay an additional $25 to be shuttled through the race course in a VW bus. And these VIPs will get an even bigger medal than everyone else.
Before you get too excited and rush off to register, we have some bad news. The event is full and registration has closed.
News of the .5K race with free beer and donuts spread more quickly than Milton could have imagined.
“I’ve been surprised at every step,” Milton said.
Maybe the most surprising? Hearing the “Good Morning America” anchors buzz about it this morning.
“To see Michael Strahan, who I have loved since his days as a New York Giant, laugh about the event and say something like ‘0.5K is just my speed’ was really, really cool,” Milton said.
Watch the segment here:
Milton says he was inspired to host the event after hearing about a similar one in Colorado. They decided they wanted to raise money for a charity called “Blessings in a Backpack.”
“We knew we wanted the charity to be small, local and one that focuses on kids. Blessings was a perfect fit for all of that. They are a really great organization, 100% volunteers and self-funded,” Milton said.
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The original goal for the event was 100 participants. Milton got that and more. He had to cut off registrations at 225 because any more and the breweries would be over capacity.
But there are plans for an even bigger and better event next year according to Milton.
“We are going to work very closely with the Duck, CCB and the city of Boerne to see how we can expand the event for next year so that we can raise even more money,” Milton said.
While the “race” is closed, the donation page is still open. You can still donate to Blessings in a Backpack through the event’s website.