4th Annual Live Oak Jack Rabbit 1 Mile FUNdraiser Run and Student Art Contest

We are better together! The Live Oak Jack Rabbit event is successful because of the generous contributions of a creative and passionate crew, including:

Event Team

* Chris Nestlerode and the Santa Cruz Track Club – Santa Cruz County’s premier running organization

* Beau Barcus & Ground Up Graphics – designer of awesome Live Oak Jack Rabbit event characters

* Great event tunes with DJ Jahi

* The awesome Shoreline Middle School Band

Sponsors

* Palace Art & Office Supply – your local source for inspiring creativity since 1949

* Pleasure Pizza - a true Santa Cruz tradition since 1975!

Participating Businesses & Sponsors

* GOAT Santa Cruz (Group Open Air Training) – engaging group fitness experiences in an open-air setting for all fitness levels

Pop-up Market Merchants, Food Options, & Community Organizations

* to be announced!

Interested in sponsoring, participating, or volunteering? Email us at: LOJackRabbitRun@gmail.com

Saturday, April 26 2025 at Shoreline Middle School, 855 17th Avenue, Santa Cruz CA 95062:

* 8:00am - Shoreline Middle School gates open. Race-day number pickup and liability waivers available at the Live Oak Education Foundation pop-up tent for participants, vendors, and volunteers (on the blacktop basketball courts near the blue Simpkins Field track)

* 8:45am - Opening ceremonies, introductions, housekeeping / good neighbor & track rules announcements. National anthem performance, US flag presentation by Cub Scouts Pack 676 & DJ Jahi getting the party started!

* 9:00am - First wave of the Live Oak Jack Rabbit 1 Mile FUNdraiser Run! Pop-up vendors and artists will begin opening shop on the Shoreline campus, and there'll be plenty of tasty race fuel served up by local food trucks on site. New this year are special waves for little bunnies 6 years old and younger (@ 9:15am), jumpin' jack rabbits with ~8:30 mile pace (@ 9:30am), racin' rabbits with ~6:30 mile pace (@ 9:45am), Public Health & Safety (@ 11:00am), and Teachers & School Staff (@ 11:15am) categories.

* free family activities & community workouts to be announced!

* 10:00 - 10:45am - Shoreline Band performance

* 10:15 / 10:30 / 10:45am - 1 mile team relay waves

* 11:45am - Final 1 mile race wave starts

* 12:00pm - Announcement of Live Oak Jack Rabbit LOSD Student Art Contest & "People's Choice" event voting award winners, 1 mile run award winners, and closing ceremonies followed by surprise musical guests (to be announced!)

	Susana Arias - National Endowment for the Arts Grant recipient and 2013 Santa Cruz County Arts Commission "Artist of the Year". Susana's art may be seen locally at the Museum of Art and History, Aptos Polo Grounds, Bay Ave. / Porter St. Underpass, and at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Panama, Museo Bolivariano in Colombia, Museo de Arte Moderno in the Dominican Republic, Museo Casa de las Americas in Cuba, and Museo del Barro in Venezuela
	Beau Barcus - Ground Up Graphics & Broprints designer, LOSD parent & LO Little League volunteer, creator of the fantastic 2023 & 2024 Live Oak Jack Rabbit event posters & new event t-shirts. Beau and his wife Katie are the creators of the famous "Nurses are Swell" sweatshirt
	Sarah Bianco - has lived most of her life in Santa Cruz after graduating with a fine arts degree from UCSC in drawing and painting. She is the 2017 Wharf to Wharf poster artist, downtown Tower Clock muralist, and she also enjoys interior design and creating interesting, inviting spaces for people to live and gather. This led her to start her business, Painting by Bianco, which specializes in murals, decorative paint finishes, custom interiors and color consultations. Sarah lives at the Tannery Arts Center where she works out of her studio, Apricity Gallery

The Live Oak Jack Rabbit art contest is open to all Live Oak School District students, and original submissions reflect themes such as good sportsmanship, making healthy choices, and training for a goal

The spirit of the Live Oak Jack Rabbit event is welcoming and inclusive, with the message that we all play a part and our community is stronger together. The Live Oak Jack Rabbit event team feels that a better education is a good start for a better future.

We will incorporate a respectful acknowledgment of native peoples and cultures as part of our opening ceremonies. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band supplied the following, which was developed with UC Santa Cruz:

“The land on which we gather is the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, comprised of the descendants of indigenous people taken to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista
during Spanish colonization of the Central Coast, is today working hard to restore traditional stewardship practices
on these lands and heal from historical trauma.”

The Live Oak Jack Rabbit event team also feels that sport can be a vehicle for positive change and growth. We celebrate themes such as good sportsmanship, making healthy choices, and the discipline to train for a goal.

Did you know that the Boston Marathon was first run in April 1897 by men, but the first official women's champion wasn't crowned until 1972! To this day, many running events are organized with strictly binary registration and award categories, and sometimes prizes are still greater for male finishers than others. Here are some of the steps the Live Oak Jack Rabbit event is taking to help promote a fun time for all:

* Collaboration with the Jack Rabbit event platform Race Roster to include the registration options: “woman”, “man”, “non-binary, gender fluid, gender non-conforming, or gender queer”, and “prefer not to disclose”

* Outreach to the military veteran community. Event registration includes “adaptive athlete” as a category to indicate predicted finish time

* 50-State & International Jack Rabbit Virtual 1 Mile promotion to show that investing in public schools has a universally positive impact

Are you fluent in Spanish translation or American Sign Language? Do you have additional ideas or suggestions?
Please contact us at LOJackRabbitRun@gmail.com

Additional References:

https://www.rei.com/blog/run/inclusion-in-running

https://www.rrca.org/gender-inclusivity-lets-runners-compete-as-themselves/

https://www.sjsu.edu/wordstoaction/

We're so glad you'll be joining us! A few important notes to help maintain the Simpkins Field track & Shoreline Middle School and improve our eco-awareness:

* Please bring a reusable water bottle with you - Shoreline has water faucets and a bottle filling station available. Consider bringing reusable plate, utensils, and napkin to reduce waste. Bonus points for bike transport too!

* There will be plenty of options for cheering, gathering, and picnicking off the track - no spectators, chairs, or food on the Simpkins Field track or infield.

* We love animals, but no furry friends are permitted on the Shoreline Middle School campus.

* Running shoes only, no racing spikes on the track. No strollers on the track.

* Please leave the inside lane (left side!) of the track clear for faster runners, there is plenty of space for those who choose to run, walk, ramble, and mosey. The USA Track & Field-certified Live Oak Jack Rabbit 1 mile course runs counterclockwise and is 4.9 laps.

* If you desire to continue running after completing the 1 mile course, please pass through the runner exit chute - designed to promote safety by limiting congestion - and ensure your time is recorded. There are nice trails at neighboring Twin Lakes State Beach/Schwan Lake near the Simpkins Swim Center and great run routes nearby through the scenic Santa Cruz Harbor or along East Cliff Drive and the Monterey Bay. Be sure to come back to enjoy some tasty food truck offerings, free community fitness classes, student art, live music, and pop-up shop wares!