Park City tries relay race to raise education funds

Finding ways to fund education can be a grueling task.

In fact, it can feel an awful lot like running on treadmill — lots of movement to stay in one place.

So when the Park City Education Foundation's Board of Directors was brainstorming ways to raise money during these tough economic times, the idea of hosting a relay race, well, just sort of sounded like a perfect fit.

"We have the benefit of having one of the owners of the Ragnar Relays on our board," said Abby McNulty, the foundation's executive director. "A lot of our board members are super fit, and they just absolutely loved the idea. We wanted to create a more accessible mini-Ragnar."

Thus, Running with Ed was born.

It's a 41-mile course that teams of five runners will conquer on Saturday, May 22, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. It costs $500 per team, unless of course you're a teacher — in any district — and then it's $200 per team. Registration ends Friday, April 30, but the ability to donate to other teams continues right up until race day.

McNulty said one of the most rewarding aspects of the endeavor has been the response.

"It has exceeded expectations," she said of the 75 teams already registered. "Every time you open up the paper, education seems to be dealing with cuts. It's just such a difficult time. To be able to infuse a little extra money into our schools through an event like this is exciting."

The race also allows educators to interact with the public in a completely different way.

"It is nice just to get people to start thinking about nurturing education through something like this," she said. "We have a lot of great stories. Teachers are running with parents; we've got kids running with their parents and teachers; we've got soccer teams running with their coaches. It's just taken on a life of its own."

The Summit County Sheriff's office is putting together a team, as is the Park City government.

"It's really neat," said McNulty.

And while the response has been overwhelming, the foundation hopes to see even bigger numbers.

"We're really hoping to get 100 teams," she said. "But we're in this for the long haul. We're using the Ragnar Relay model, and we're planning to double our team participation each year. This is our investment year, and we're really focused on making it the greatest experience for the participants."

One science teacher, Meghan Zatensky, plans to run the entire course alone.