'Not just another race': St. Patrick's 5K raises more than $30,000 for Ronald McDonald House

Mar. 18—Online Additional donations to Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Four States can be made at www.rmhjoplin.org.

Saturday marked the inaugural St. Patrick's Day Free Community 5K.

Although free for runners, it raised more than $33,500 for Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Four States.

Billed as a different kind of 5K, runners were asked to directly donate to the Ronald McDonald House instead of a paying registration fee.

The event was capped at 500 runners, and people came from 55 cities to run in a sea of green outfits.

Dressed in a green Lucky Charms shirt, Ozzie Antillon sprinted across the finish line near the front of the pack. His entire family participated in the race because Ronald McDonald House played an important part in their lives.

'Such a blessing'

His father, Oscar Antillon, of Webb City, said the family stayed at the Ronald McDonald House when Ozzie Antillon was born in 2010. His son was born with a virus and had to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit for a few days. At the time, they lived about 40 minutes away from the hospital.

"It was such a blessing to stay there," Oscar Antillon said. "We were kind of overwhelmed by Ozzie's situation. It was so nice to be able to focus on him and his care and not have to worry about the logistics of where we would stay. The reality is that you feel like it's a small gift from God you get as you're going through a hard trial."

In addition to supporting a good cause, he said, the race was a great way to celebrate the arrival of spring and shake off the winter blues. As soon as the family found out about the event, they got neighbors, co-workers and anyone they could find to join.

Lori Jones, executive director of Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Four States, said the organization's goal is to keep families like the Antillons together when their infant is in critical care by providing things such as housing and meals.

"That really feels like we've made an impact with a family," Jones said. "It's a meaningful connection that they're willing to give up family time and come to support us. It lets us know our mission was accomplished for their family."

'More people can come out'

Jones said without the cost of medals and shirts, the run had raised $30,000 in sponsorship support and an additional $3,500 in individual donations.

The St. Patrick's Day Free Community 5K ran a looped course through downtown Joplin and Landreth Park. Runners dressed in festive costumes, Irish music blared at the finish line, and instead of finisher medals, runners received four-leaf clovers from Joplin Greenhouse & The Coffee Shop.

"This event is different than other 5Ks in our community," said Kim Eckerman, director of communications for TAMKO Building Products and an event committee member. "We really wanted to bring the community together, promote an active lifestyle and create an atmosphere where there were no barriers to participate. The costs of race registrations have gotten higher through the years. With zero entry fees, more people can come out and be a part of it."

TAMKO was the presenting sponsor for the 5K, and Eckerman said the business has been supporting Ronald McDonald House since it began operations in Joplin.

"Ronald McDonald House's mission is keeping their families close," Eckerman said. "That's something that matters to TAMKO as well. Many of our families live in this community, and our employees have had to utilize that facility in the past. It's important to us to continue to support that here in our community."

The start and finish line was located at Runaround Running and Lifestyle, 303 S. Main St., which ran operations for the event.

"This is not just another race," Erik Bartlett, owner of Runaround Running and Lifestyle, said in a statement. "We'd like to embrace the true essence of running events, which is coming together with our community, getting active and making a real difference in the lives of others."

Big Red Shoe replacement?

Francene Johnson, of Joplin, said she embraced the different atmosphere of Saturday's run and loved that it took place downtown.

"For me, I left my competitiveness at home," Johnson said. "This is a fun community event to get together, run and support the cause. The course was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, and I got to do this with my kids and my husband."

She had previously run in the Big Red Shoe Run, a fall fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House. In addition to getting to run on a beautiful March morning, she wanted to help raise money for the families who can't go home for a while.

Jones said the organization was exploring this as a replacement event for the Big Red Shoe Run in order to space out its fundraising events throughout the year. It would also reduce the strain on its volunteers. As well as the event went this weekend, she thinks that's the direction the group is headed.

The Ronald McDonald House is not a federally funded or state-funded organization, she said. It's a local charity that depends on local generosity. Fundraising events and campaigns provides 40% of their budget, with an additional 42% from general donations of community support.

While Jones is grateful for the community support, she said the event provided an emotional connection as well.

"We appreciate sponsors that send us the financial support, but we really love to have the emotional connection as well so they can see where their money is going and meet the families it's benefiting," Jones said.