Museum of Aviation’s 25th annual marathon

The Museum of Aviation will be holding its 25th Annual Run for Aviation, an event hosted by the Museum of Aviation Foundation that not only covers marathon runners, but also a half marathon, a 5K run and hand cycle races.

Museum Chief of Operations Jenny Maas explained, “This is the 25th year that we’ve done this. We added the hand cycles about five years ago, but we’ve been doing the other three races for 25 years.”

For the first time, this race is also allowing virtual racers to attend. Maas went on to say that, “People can sign up and run the race virtually, and the way that it works is they get the T-shirt and the medal, all racers get a medal. They basically run it at home or wherever they feel safe, we have someone running it in Washington, D.C. They keep their own time, and they submit that. They have the whole weekend to choose when they’re going to run.”

The race will be held on Saturday, February 13; however, Maas also explained that this event won’t be taking same-day registrations. “We have to know our numbers due to COVID,” she explained. Because of that, all racers must be registered by February 12 at noon.

Each race has a different registration cost ranging from the 5K Run at $35, to the Marathon Relay, which is $180. These funds go to pay for the Museum of Aviation Foundation many STEM programs, teaching students subjects in science and math each year, as well as other museum operations. Fees also apply to virtual runners; for them, each race cost $35.

The museum is also taking measures to ensure everyone’s—racers’ and employees’—health. While health professionals are working hard to provide everyone in the country with vaccines and finally, the herd immunity is in the U.S., COVID-19 remains a steadfast concern that everyone must deal with. The Museum of Aviation is no exception.

“We will be registering outside. We normally register people in the morning inside the Century of Flight, but it just tends to get too crowded, so we’ll be registering under tents outside. We ask that racers do not bring their families on the course to observe,” said Maas. “We ask that they where masks—not during their run, because we’ll be spacing them out. But any time they’re not on the course, they’re asked to wear masks.”

Maas also explained that the runners would be doing something called a staggered start time. “Instead of everyone bunching up and going and hitting the course all at one time, it’ll be more like two at a time, as they leave and cross over the timing strip.” This will be providing runners with the chance to have the CDC recommended six feet of space while they do their race.

“The Museum of Aviation Foundation is the funding source for the National STEM Academy, the National STEM Academy, through workshops, virtual field trips, in-person field trips and summer camps. They educate about 52,000 students in a normal year, so this is the fundraising we do,” Maas said. “We also love doing these types of events because we want to offer them to the community. We want the Museum of Aviation to be a quality center for our community, so that’s why we always try to have different events.”

HHJ News