The Rotary Club of St Petersburg is excited to announce the 2nd year of our Salty Sands Run/Walk, which will take place Saturday April 22, 2023 in beautiful Fort Desoto Park. The event will feature a 10k Run, 5K Run and a 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk, so there is a distance for everyone and we hope that you will come out and join us.

Schedule: 7:30 am - Start 10k 7:45 am – Start 5k 8:00 am – Start 1 mile 8:45 am – Awards Ceremony

Rotary is always looking for ways to support our community and all of the amazing non-profit organizations that are continually striving to make St Petersburg a better place. In fact, there are so many great organizations that sometimes it's tough to just choose one, so this year we are launching a new concept for the Salty Sands that we are calling the Charity Challenge.

Instead of us choosing a charity that event proceeds will given to, we are asking you the runners to choose! This is going to be super easy, fun and maybe even a little competitive. Here's how it works...

Rotary has selected the following three local non-profits that will compete against each other to win the event proceeds and you will be asked to select one to support when you register. The organization with the most points will win the largest percentage of the proceeds.

Academy Prep, https://stpete.academyprep.org/about

Reach St Pete, https://reachstpete.org/aboutus

SPCA of Tampa Bay, https://spcatampabay.org/about-us/

The rules for winning are simple. Any registered participant in the 1 mile run/walk, the 5k or the 10k race earns one point for the selected charity. The group that ends up with the most points wins the most money. *The only twist is that bonus points will be given based on race results, so the final point totals will not be determined until the day of the event.

Bonus Points are awarded if a runner places 1st, 2nd or 3rd overall in the 5k or 10k races. *The 1 mile walk/run is not timed, so there will be no extra points allocated to that race. Bonus Points for overall 5k and 10k winners

Men's 1st place = 15 points Women's 1st place = 15 points
Men's 2nd place = 10 points Women's 2nd place = 10 points
Men's 3rd place = 5 points Women's 3rd place = 5 points

5 Bonus points will also be awarded to each first place age group winner (8 groups) plus the winners of the Kids 1 Mile race.

April 22 is also Earth Day, so we will be striving to make our race more eco-friendly by avoiding single use plastics. Our water will be supplied in large reusable jugs and paper cups and the goodie bag for race participants will be made of cloth and re-useable in every day life. Our awards will be crafted by a local artist and made of wood.