Fun Run Case Studies

Each fun run case study below follows one real event through its own public record: school and PTA posts, nonprofit recaps and local news. Every figure comes from a named source, and each page ends with what the sources leave out. Together the five cover the main ways a fun run raises money: a school lap run funded by family pledges, a do-it-yourself PTA run during P.E., a school 5K with a kids' race, a children-only community run, and a small nonprofit's first three years.

Five fun run case studies compared

Event	Organizer	Format	Reported result	How the money came in
Thirkill Elementary, Soda Springs, ID	PTO, public school (preschool to grade 4)	20-minute timed lap run on school grounds	About $21,500 (2024, 17th annual)	Family pledges; 20 named local sponsors
Leggee Elementary, Huntley, IL	PTA, public school (K to grade 5)	Timed run during P.E., run by the PTA itself	A little over $25,000 (2012) on $550 in stated expenses	Family giving; $1,500 from 24 sponsors
Holy Redeemer, Kensington, MD	Catholic school	Neighborhood 5K plus a half-mile kids' fun run	Around $35,000 (2024), 569 participants	$35 and $30 entry fees; 30+ business sponsors; $225 family package
Cantina Kids Fun Run, Saratoga Springs, NY	Restaurant owners with a hospital foundation	Children-only quarter mile and 1 mile in a park	$72,000 (2024, 1,100+ participants); $104,000 (2025, 865 runners)	Low entry fees; presenting sponsor; kickoff event
BCNC Family Fun Run, Quincy, MA	Community nonprofit	5K run or walk, later with a Kids Dash; virtual option	$3,810 (2023), $5,765 (2024), $13,000 (2025)	Age-based fees; six sponsor tiers; silent auction

The two elementary school runs sit near $25,000, the median of the 37 documented US fun run results in our database that published a single-year total in dollars (from 32 distinct events); Holy Redeemer's $35,000 is above the middle half of those results (about $13,500 to $33,000). That median comes from published results, which lean toward successful, newsworthy events and are mostly gross, before costs, so it is not a representative average; these case studies lean the same way: schools and charities write about their good years. Read them for how each event worked, not as a forecast for yours. All five also appear, with their sources, in the fun run results database.

Lessons across the five fun runs

1. Fee-based runs live on sponsors, not entries

The two community-style events with published fees both raised far more than their entry fees could explain. At Holy Redeemer, even if all 569 participants had paid the $35 5K fee, entries would come to at most $19,915, about 57% of the roughly $35,000; sponsors and gifts supplied the rest. At the Cantina run, taking the 2023 fee as an assumption, 1,100 entries at $25 would be $27,500, well under half of 2024's $72,000, and 2025 raised $104,000 from fewer runners. If you plan a fee-based fun run, plan the sponsor program with the same care as registration.

2. School-time lap runs include every child by default

Leggee's students ran for 30 minutes in 2011, and by 2013 each grade ran during P.E.; Thirkill gives every child, preschool through fourth grade, the same 20 minutes on a lap course. Neither needed a weekend event or a separate audience, and both relied on family giving rather than fees. A fixed time instead of a fixed distance also lets the youngest and oldest finish together.

3. Kids' distances stay short

Every event with young children kept their run short: a half mile at Holy Redeemer, a fenced quarter mile for the youngest at the Cantina run, a Kids Dash at BCNC, a 20-minute window at Thirkill. All fall within the Road Runners Club of America guidance summarized in our kids' fun run distance guide.

4. Naming the purchase keeps people giving

The longest-running events say exactly what the money buys: SMART boards and field trips at Leggee, a teacher wish list at Thirkill, named equipment and training for the pediatric emergency department at the Cantina run, and a five-year school plan at Holy Redeemer.

5. Growth takes years

BCNC more than tripled its total in three years, with the jump in year three after it added a Kids Dash, age-based fees and sponsor tiers. Thirkill is in its second decade; the Cantina run started in 2008 and passed $1 million cumulative in 2025; Holy Redeemer has run its race since the early 2000s. A modest first year is normal.

6. Many small sponsors add goodwill more than money

Leggee's 24 sponsors gave $1,500, about $62.50 each and roughly 6 percent of the total; Thirkill named 20 hometown businesses. Holy Redeemer took the opposite approach with priced tiers named after things on the course, from a $5,000 lead sponsor to a $225 family package. Both work; the tiered model brings in more per sponsor, while a long list of small sponsors spreads the event through town.

7. Costs are almost never published

Only Leggee's treasurer stated expenses: $550 against a little over $25,000. None of the other four sources gives costs or net proceeds, which matches the wider pattern in the results database. When you report your own result, publish gross, costs and net.

How to use these fun run examples

• Find the case closest to your event. A PTA planning a school-day run should start with Leggee and Thirkill; a nonprofit planning a public 5K, with BCNC and Holy Redeemer; anyone planning a children's community run, with the Cantina run.
• Borrow the mechanics, not the totals. The format, sponsor structure and timing transfer. The dollar result depends on your community.
• Turn the numbers into your own estimate. The how much does a fun run raise guide shows the formula and the levers, and the fun run profit calculator compares fee, donation and hybrid models with your inputs.
• Check the doing-it-yourself math. Leggee's PTA ran its event without an outside company; our company vs DIY guide covers that choice.

How we chose these fun run case studies

We started from the results database and picked events whose public record was detailed enough to explain how the run worked: format, money sources, sponsors or costs, and what the money paid for. We read every source, quoted only what it says, marked our own arithmetic as ours, and listed the gaps on each page. No fundraising company's website was used as a source, and no child is named. These are five well-documented events, not a representative sample. For planning your own event from the first decision to the thank-you notes, start at the fun run fundraiser guide.