BURRILLVILLE – It will be a new take on what has become a town tradition, and a fresh start in the effort to raise scholarship funding for Burrillville High School’s graduating seniors.
The Burrillville Prevention Action Coalition’s annual 5K walk/run will take place on a new date and time in 2025, with an evening event to coincide with the Bronco’s homecoming weekend.
BPAC coordinator Michelle Gerard, hired in April to replace former coordinator Monica Blanchette, said the changes reflect her desire to give the event a new beginning.
“We wanted start over and try something new, so the colonel suggested a night run,” Gerard said of Burrillville Police Chief Col. Stephen Lynch.
Formed in 2017 in response to a rise in overdose deaths in town, the Burrillville Prevention Action Coalition aims to provide local youth with events, activities and encouragement for a substance-free lifestyle. Working under the umbrella if the Burrillville Police Department, Gerard now meets with both a youth and adult group to plan such events and promote healthy choices.
The 5K, started in 2019, is the organization’s main fundraiser for its scholarship program, with awards given each year to qualifying BHS graduates. Gerard noted there are currently three Bronco seniors in her BPAC Youth group.
“That’s where the proceeds go,” she said of the 5K.
The evening race will also honor the group’s adopted MADD victim for 2025, whose identity has not yet been revealed. The group works with Mothers Against Drink Drivers each year to remember and honor a different victim of impaired driving.
Participants in the 5K will receive long sleeved t-shirts in the victim’s favorite color. The race will also feature glow sticks, and rocks painted with glow-in-the-dark paint displaying a tribute to the victim will line the route. Gerard noted that the students got inspiration sitting in a booth next to Burrillville Rocks founder Roger Bourbonniere at the Downtown Pascoag & Neighborhood Association’s recent block party.
“The kids thought it would be great to have rocks with glow in the dark paint,” she said.
The event will take place on Friday, Oct. 10 with a start time of 6 p.m. Conducted like other races of its kind, the 5K will utilize timers, and participants will be issued bibs, with awards for the fastest runner male and female runner. Participants are also invited to walk the mostly flat, scenic 3.1 mile route.
Gerard noted that she herself is not a runner, but was looking for a way to make the event new and fresh – and took the suggestion from others who have participated in night runs.
“The colonel and others I spoke to said they’re done them before and they’re fun,” she said.
The organization’s focus on youth made homecoming weekend for Burrillville students another appropriate choice.
“We’d love to have a lot of runners this year,” Gerard said. “I think that Burrillville should come together for a substance free activity that benefits the youth and is a lot of fun for the adults. We want more healthy activities that are good for everybody.”
The Bronco 5K will also include a Kids Fun Run starting at 5:45 p.m. at A.T. Levy Elementary School at 135 Harrisville Main St. Registration, found here, costs $35 plus a $4 sign up fee for adults or $15 plus the fee for public safety members, students, teachers and BHS alumni.
