The 11th annual Light up the Night for Noelle race at Canatara Park will include a new kids marathon and a glow in the dark theme.
The fundraising walk or run, held in support of Noelle's Gift to Children, is usually held on the first Saturday of October, but Race Director Bryan Cowden said they bumped up the date this year to September 28 in an effort to gain more participants.
Cowden said as of September 11, 275 people had signed up for the race, a significant increase as they typically would see around 175 registrants for this time of year.
"Running is booming. This is happening at every event it seems like," he said.
Organizers also expect more than 30 children to participate in the one-kilometre race.
"Noelle's Gift has always been about children so we wanted to really spotlight that, and of course, fitness and health is what we're also about too," Cowden said. "So getting kids running in a fun way would be the best way to do that."
Cowden said children who signed up for the 1k race had the option of participating for free, provided they completed 41.2 km by September 27. With the final kilometre to be accomplished on race day, Cowden said the kids will have accumulated 42.2 km since July 1.
"You get a special medal that says 'I ran a marathon' as a kid, and we had 36 kids sign up for that," he said. "On Tuesday nights for the summer, I've been running training sessions to get those kilometres added up for them."
Cowden said the children and parents have loved the process.
"We usually start with a warm-up. I try not to make the training sessions too boring so we make it fun by running sprints in a fun way and then I introduce a new game every time, whether it's a giant-sized Jenga tower or Connect 4, or a sponge game where you run from one bucket to the other and squeeze water out of a sponge," Cowden said. "You're running the whole time but also having fun. Then at the end, I introduce them to what a full kilometre looks like."
Cowden said there are no specific goals in place but it would be great if they could see 400 participants and raise $40,000 to $45,000.
Money raised will support children through the student nutrition program, as well as other initiatives organized by Noelle's Gift.
Online registration will remain open for the 5k, 10k, and 1k kids race until September 26 in order to get the bibs ready. However, people can register at the event as well.
Organizers are also seeking volunteers for the race.
The Light Up the Night race will start at 6:30 p.m. at Canatara Park.