5th 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

* MC Brock Dickie & great event tunes with DJ Jahi

Participating Businesses

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

* Santa Cruz Running Company - your running store!

* AMR Santa Cruz County - providing emergency medical transport service for the Santa Cruz County CA area

* MedCardiaction - real CPR & BLS training - taught by emergency medical professionals

* Outerlands Medics + Rescue - providing tailored and comprehensive medical training

Sponsors

* Mike Bloch and the Bloch Real Estate Team - your trusted real estate advisors

* Appliance Home Care LLC - full-service home repair company serving Santa Cruz County for over 63 years!

* Cruzio Internet - Real local folks. Awesome local internet

* Green Planet Organics - certified organic seedlings in an extensive assortment of high-quality, healthy plants for your garden

* Mission Printers – printers with the capabilities to handle all your projects, large or small

* Natural Motion Creations – screen printing, custom stickers, embroidery services, branding services and more

* New Leaf Community Markets - sustaining our Central Coast communities for more than 40 years

* PPD Multimedia, Inc. – complete one-stop design studio in Santa Cruz

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

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

* Santa Cruz Children's Dental Group - creating confident smiles for your kids

* Starbucks Coffee at East Cliff & 17th Ave - fresh-roasted coffee beans, tea and spices. Official fuel of our LOJR volunteer crew!

* York Framing Gallery - The family-owned York Framing Gallery offers full-service art framing and design assistance

Community Partners

* Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Cruz County, Live Oak Clubhouse – youth service organization

* California Highway Patrol - Safety, Service, and Security

* Central Fire District of Santa Cruz County - Serving the Communities of Aptos, Capitola, La Selva Beach, Live Oak, Rio Del Mar, and Soquel

* County Park Friends - activating the power of parks

* Cradle to Career Santa Cruz County – parent advocacy organization and community connector

* Cub Scouts Pack 676 – family fun for boys & girls

* Free Books for Kids - 250,000+ books given free of charge to economically disadvantaged children and their teachers

* Live Oak Little League - youth baseball program serving families in the Live Oak community

* Positive Discipline Community Resources - creating relationships based on mutual respect and dignity

* Santa Cruz County Parks - explore our programs, parks, and beaches!

* Santa Cruz Warriors - NBA G League affiliate of the Golden State Warriors bringing professional basketball to Santa Cruz!

* Your Allied Rapid Response for Santa Cruz County (YARR) - supporting targeted people with resources, community presence, and information

There are many ways to get involved - for more information, please contact the event team at: LOJackRabbitRun@gmail.com

2026 Live Oak Jack Rabbit Student Art Contest Award Winners

Congratulations! Live Oak Jack Rabbit LOSD Student Art Contest submissions from the following scholar artists were chosen by our panel of professional judges and event participants from over 240 submissions. On Friday, May 1 the Live Oak Education Foundation will be presenting Palace Art & Office Supply gift cards and award certificates to these students, and they will be invited to share details about their creative process.

All are invited to join in celebrating the arts on Friday May 1 from 4:00 – 5:00pm at the Palace Arts store located at 1501 41st Ave K, Capitola, CA 95010.

For more information please refer to the First Friday website at https://firstfridaysantacruz.com/event/live-oak-jack-rabbit-student-artists-showcase or email LOJackRabbitRun@gmail.com. The student artwork is being prepared by York Framing Gallery for display at Palace Arts for the entire month of May!

• Catalina – Del Mar – 1^st Grade
• Kayla Rodriguez – Del Mar – 5^th Grade
• Aitana Lopez – Del Mar – 2^nd Grade – Hunt
• Emma Loureds Flores – Del Mar - 4th Grade – Wernick
• Olivia – Green Acres – 2^nd Grade – Gerhart
• Darwin – Live Oak – 3rd Grade – Perez
• Delia Stephanoff – Ocean Alternative – 6th Grade
• Griffin Hunt – Tierra Pacifica – 2^nd Grade – Lohrey
• Ellie Brauzman – Tierra Pacifica – 3rd Grade – Lohrey
• Sebastian Marse – Tierra Pacifica – 1^st Grade – Dilloughery
• Vivia Rubin – Tierra Pacifica – 7^th Grade
• Angela Posadas – Shoreline – 7^th Grade

* please excuse unintentional typos due to data entry errors or incomplete/illegible demographic data

Food, Drink & Treat Options

* Aparicio Family Ice Cream Truck - tasty treats & cool refreshments

* Cakes with Care – providing cakes to financially & socially disadvantaged children & seniors

* Cre's BBQ & Soulfood - Authentic & made fresh to order

* Evil Wings - halal-approved wings & meat, delicious burgers, burritos and so much more!

* Skills of Life Cafe - offering job training to integrate teens and young adults with intellectual (dis)abilities

Popup Market Vendors

* Anacapa Beauty - beautiful hand-crafted sea glass jewelry

* face painting by Ruth - family fun & face paint

* Floresitas Beads - handcrafted with love and intention

* Killer Sweet Pea Co. - unique floral resin jewelry

* Mon Ami Art Studios - playful art-making for you and yours

* Tulipa Florals - a bright fresh corner of the flower world

* White Rabbit Social Club - featuring the art of Cheyanne Donald Diaz

Music

* DJ Jahi - performing shows in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area

* the awesome Shoreline Middle School Band

NEW feature this year: hands-on workshops with:

- Guitars not Guns - providing guitar lessons to children whose lives are touched by violence in their community

- Joe Mailloux Percussion - catch Joe performing with local band Sambda Da, or mix it up with him and some hands-on percussion activities at the LOJR!

Check back soon for more details! There are many ways to get involved - for more information, please contact the event team at: LOJackRabbitRun@gmail.com

This is the third year that the Live Oak Jack Rabbit Online Auction runs on the award-winning Givebutter platform and features awesome gifts and Mother's Day ideas - and some of these creative folks will have a booth at the pop-up market at the Live Oak Jack Rabbit event on 4/19/26 at Shoreline Middle School! Fast, secure, and reliable wi-fi provided by sponsor Cruzio Internet - so bring a reusable bag for point-of-sale purchases.

Original pottery, beautiful artwork, fun stuff for athletes of all abilities, and great gifts (Mother's Day is May 10!)

Many Thanks To:

* Anacapa Beauty - beautiful hand-crafted sea glass jewelry

* Cristina Sayers - collage art with nostalgia, sarcasm, & ✂️

* Erika Rosendale - public works, fine art, set design & international artivist from the Pacific Coast

* GOAT - engaging group fitness experience in an open-air setting for participants at all fitness levels

* Jim Greiner's Hands-On! Drumming - workshops that incorporate beginning to advanced levels in a wide range of musical styles

* Justin Francavilla - Ink on Paper, Vinyl, and Fabric

* MERGE4 socks - happy feet guaranteed!

* Mon Ami Art Studios - playful art-making for you and yours

* Molly de Mesa Acupuncture - Acupuncture. Herbal Medicine. Dietetics. Manual therapies and individualized treatments to support your health

* Nordic Naturals - committed to delivering the world's safest, most effective nutrients essential to health

* ProudRNs.com - an organization built by Registered Nurses for Registered Nurses and the people who appreciate them

* Salty Sweet Studio - handcrafted pottery inspired by nature

* Santa Cruz Soccer Camps - dedicated to promoting a fun and active environment for kids ages 5-13

* Skills of Life SOL Cafe - a community-supported environment providing the pursuit of lifelong learning

* The Intuitive Beauty Spa - treatments that deliver real results

* York Framing Gallery – full-service art framing and design

www.givebutter.com/c/LetsGoLO/auction

• Keep an eye on the Live Oak Jack Rabbit Instagram feed and Givebutter online auction site as we add more fun items!
• View all the items by clicking the "auction" tab at the top of the online auction homepage
• "Buy Now" pricing to instantly win the item or pre-set your maximum bid with incremental $5 raises once registered with Givebutter

Sunday, April 19 2026 at Shoreline Middle School, 855 17th Avenue, Santa Cruz CA 95062:

* 7:00am - Shoreline Middle School gates open

* 8:00am - 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)

* 8:30am - All booth setup complete, cars from expo groups & market vendors exit Shoreline blacktop

* 8:45am - Opening ceremonies & introductions with MC Brock Dickey & DJ Jahi, housekeeping / good neighbor & track rules announcements. US flag presentation by Cub Scouts Pack 676

* 9:00am - First wave of the Live Oak Jack Rabbit 1 Mile FUNdraiser Run! Booths from community partner groups and popup market vendors will begin opening shop on the Shoreline campus. Special 1-mile 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

* 9:15am - free community workout with GOAT!

* 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 - 1:00pm - Closing ceremonies - announcement of Live Oak Jack Rabbit LOSD Student Art Contest & "People's Choice" event voting award winners & 1-mile run award winners

** You're invited to celebrate our 12 selected scholar artists at 4pm on First Friday, May 1 at Palace Art & Office Supplies **

There were some fast times and lotsa smiles at the USA Track & Field-certified Live Oak Jack Rabbit 1-mile races at Shoreline Middle School on April 19! Thank you Santa Cruz Track Club for providing all of the race direction and timing, and Santa Cruz Running Company and volunteers for your support!

** Note: registration options included: “woman”, “man”, “non-binary, gender fluid, gender non-conforming, or gender queer”, and “prefer not to disclose” **

Questions? Anything need fixing? Please direct feedback to: LOJackRabbitRun@gmail.com

	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 Live Oak Jack Rabbit characters, designer of event posters & producer of event t-shirts. Beau and his wife Katie are the team behind ProudRNs.com & the famous "Nurses are Swell" merchandise
	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 by our volunteers. 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!