5 walking events in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

RAIN OR SHINE - Don't miss the FUN!

Run or walk with your teachers and your friends at the Public School Foundation 5K for Education on Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 8:30am. The PSF 5K for Education supports our teachers, our schools and our community. It is a great fun-filled community event which promotes health and fitness and school spirit! This year's event will also include a 1K fun run.

LET'S SUPPORT OUR TEACHERS, SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY

Encourage your friends, teachers and family to register and join YOUR school's team. $10 from each adult 5K registration will go directly to your selected CHCCS school when you register.

LET'S SHOW OUR SCHOOL PRIDE!

The CHCCS school with the most registered participants will become the proud owner of the golden sneaker trophy! Join friends and teachers to cheer for your school's mascot in the historic and memorable Mascot warms up and lap around McCorkle Place at 8:00 am. Run or walk past our school's designated cheer station and wave and show school spirit!

REGISTRATION

Online now until 8:00 am on race day. In person registration will be available during packet pickup at Fleet Feet on Friday, March 13th from 12-6PM.

Adult registration $30, (Price increases to $35 on March 9th, teacher & student registration $20. 1K Fun Run $20 includes T-shirt and bib, but this event will not be timed. Strollers are welcome.

Dogs are not allowed. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience for all participants.

5K for Education t-shirts are available to the first 2,000 registrants. Register today!

This is a fund raiser and appreciate your support of our schools. Please understand we cannot offer refunds for any reason.

Check out the 5K Course Map

Check out the 1K Fun Run Map

THE RACE

Join us in supporting Malawi Children's Initiative for the ninth year by participating in a 5K run or walk. Create a fundraising page or team to help maximize the impact of your participation by funding the training of Malawian healthcare professionals, and providing lifegiving care to children in Malawi.

THE CHARITY

Malawi Children’s Initiative (MCI) is an all-volunteer 501c3 non-profit organization established in 2017 by physicians David and Elizabeth Fitzgerald to help build bridges between their friends and colleagues at home in the U.S. and those in Malawi, where they have worked and sometimes lived since 2011. MCI focuses on improving the lives of Malawian children through investment in healthcare, education, and nutritional initiatives and has provided more than $1 million in funding, training, staffing and equipment to benefit Malawian Children since it was founded.

Significant projects include funding an elementary school building; providing dozens of scholarships for healthcare education from elementary school through post-graduate training and medical school; building, staffing and running a pediatric clinical lab and residency program at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH); and contributing thousands of hours of nursing care support to the KCH Pediatric Department. MCI also runs the Nutritional Rehab Unit at KCH, a key weapon in the fight against children experiencing severe acute malnutrition. Most recently, MCI has begun laying the groundwork to construct a new pediatric hospital unit at KCH and train enough new local pediatricians to staff it.

THE GOAL

Raise $50,000 to train new pediatricians, provide healthcare education and equipment aimed at saving and improving the lives of Malawian children, especially those facing severe hunger and malnutrition.

Hi! We're CPALS, a non-profit student organization at UNC-Chapel Hill that works closely with UNC Hospitals to support pediatric hematology and oncology patients (our pals!). CPALS members can apply for a 1:1 Pal to support a specific patient and their family during inpatient stays and/or clinic visits. This is a really meaningful relationship for both our patients and our volunteers!

In addition to volunteering our time to create programming and friendship with our pals, we work throughout the year to raise funds for the CPALS Scholarship Program. Through this program we provide financial assistance to our pals for college expenses, which helps their families who have endured the unexpected costs of treatment. We also fund the CPALS Cares Grant to supply immediate financial support to patient families through gift cards to places such as restaurants and convenience stores.​

This year, we are hosting the Golden Heroes 5K (named after the color of the childhood cancer awareness ribbon and for our pals) again in the hopes of raising both awareness and funds for our cause. With your help, we hope to provide even greater financial assistance to our deserving pals! In lieu of T-shirts this year, every registration is part of a larger donation that goes directly to the clinic. People who register will receive free bagels on race day, and there will be gift certificates for the top three male and female finishers. Packet pick up will be on April 18th from 3-6 pm at Fleet Feet Carrboro and there will be free Brandwein's Bagels provided at the race! The race will start at Bynum Circle (by the Old Well).

To register and support our cause, please sign up using this page. There will be same day and walk-in registration.

Questions, comments, want more information? Contact us ([email protected]) or visit our official websites at: https://www.goldenheroes5k.com/ and https://cpals.web.unc.edu/

We are excited to present the 18th running of the Philosopher’s Way Trail Runs at Carolina North Forest in Chapel Hill, NC on Sunday, April 26th, 2026!

If you prefer to run or walk the course on your own, the courses will be open Monday, April 28th through Sunday, May 3rd. For those not running the in-person event on the 26th, the courses will be marked, and we invite registrants to run or walk anytime during park hours (8:00 am to 6:00 pm). We will provide information on how to upload evidence of your run, and we will do random drawings for prizes (from our amazing sponsors) from among all runners who upload their results. In the event of single-track closures, there will be courses marked on the Forest’s gravel roads.

🗺️ View Google Map of race headquarters

🏃‍♀️ View & download course maps

Logistics

In-person race logistic document

Self-timed event logistics document

Cost

$45 for race registration, which includes a custom designed shirt (in the size of your choice if registering before April 7th).

Sponsors