Join CALICO at the Oakland Running Festival
For the past 9 years Oakland has hosted thousands of runners for the Oakland Running Festival. On this day, runners come together to celebrate their love (or tolerance) of running. Some come with the goal to run faster or farther than ever before. Other participants’ only goal is to have a day of healthy fun. In these thousands of runners there is a group who come with the goal to do something more. They are running with the goal to help children. These are the Team CALICO runners- a group of people (or heroes) who have volunteered to use their runs to raise awareness and funds to help achieve justice and healing for abused children and their families.
CALICO first joined the running festival in 2011 and our team has grown bigger every year. Participants join Team CALICO to run or walk any of the races, including the 5k, relay, half-marathon, full marathon, and kid’s fun run. Past Team CALICO members have stated how meaningful it is to run for a cause that helps children and how much fun the camaraderie of a team is. Every year on the morning of the race runners meetup, take pictures and get in the spirit together!
You’ll know a Team CALICO runner by their shirt: blue with “CALICO” written across the front, these runners proudly display their dedication to keeping children safe and healthy. Every dollar raised by a Team CALICO runner goes towards providing vital services to abused children and their families.
Want to be a hero too? Here are three easy ways:
Join Team CALICO and walk or run a race. Click here to sign up or email run@calicocenter.org. All you will need to do is fill out an online registration form and we will register you as an official Team CALICO runner. Don't forget to share this information with others you know who might be interested.
If running isn't your thing - volunteer! CALICO needs volunteers to help support runners on race day. Click here to sign up or email run@calicocenter.org for more information about volunteering.
Donate! Help Team CALICO runners reach their goal of $50,000. Click here to donate. Last year's runners and water stop volunteers raised over $48,000 for abused children and their families. This year we hope to surpass that goal!
Check out our event site to learn more about the most recent Oakland Running Festival or our Facebook page to see pictures from last year.