By Payton Tholstrup
Photos courtesy of Tiffany Wagner
On Friday, August 22nd, at 9:00 pm, glow sticks will light up the town of Miltonvale. This year marks the town’s 10th Annual Glow Race. This 5k Walk/Run is held on Friday night during Tootlefest, a 3-day event that has a parade, car show, and more.
The race will begin and end at Tootle Park.
Tiffany Wagner, who is helping organize the event this year, said the Glow Run seems to be a family favorite during Tootlefest.
“Lots of kids, parents, and community members come to walk and run the town, gathering up Glow Sticks at each turn and glowing the town. It’s a lot of fun,” she said.
Four of Wagner’s kids run cross-country on a homeschool team out of Salina, Kansas. The team, named The Smoky Valley Home Educators (SVHC) Cross-Country, is hosting the race this year.
With the Miltonvale grade school and high school now closed, the cross-country team offered to host the race this year. The Miltonvale Chamber gave its approval.
“They said yes with excitement that someone wanted to continue this and spearhead it,” said Wagner. “In prior years, the Southern Cloud Cheerleaders hosted the run, and the funds helped them pay for uniforms. Last year, the funds went to help rebuild Tootle Park, which is still in progress.”
Wagner has found that quite a bit of time goes into the planning process. One of the most important parts of planning is finding sponsors to help with the cost of the race. Sponsors help pay for shirts, medals for the winners, glow bracelets, and necklaces.
Other tasks in the planning process include finding a shirt design, having shirts made with sponsors’ names on the back, mapping out the course for the race, designing a flyer, and creating an event page on Facebook.
Wagner’s kids have been a big help during this process. “My four oldest kids have had to help, and they will continue to help throughout the day. They will also participate and run,” she said.
Members and coaches of the SVHE Cross-Country team will help with the race as well.
Registration is open now until August 22nd. Participants pay a small fee of $5 to walk or run. Glow Run T-shirts will also be available for purchase.
“We are incredibly excited and thankful to be able to host this year’s Tootlefest’s 5k Glow Run.”
