6th Annual MAD Dash 5K & Fun Run Raises $20,000 for Educational Programs 

The 6^th Annual MAD Dash 5K & Fun Run raised over $20,000 for Surry County Schools’ students and teachers.  The race, held on April 28, 2018 and hosted by the Surry County Schools Educational Foundation, had over 500 participants racing through the streets of Dobson, NC, with hundreds more volunteers and spectators cheering them on!  The 5K began on the Surry Community College campus and finished at the 50-yard line of the Surry Central High School Rex Mitchell Track and Field.  Dozens of children participated in a Fun Run following the 5K.

All eleven Surry County Schools GROW (Go Run Our World) Strong Teams competed in the event.  Each team goes through a 10-week training after school.  The training not only prepares the students to participate in the 5K, but also teaches positive characteristics like determination, confidence, self-pride and race etiquette.

Deanne Fitzgerald, Surry County Schools’ GROW Strong Coordinator, believes the program teaches children to persevere through tough situations.  “This not only applies to running but life in general.  Students learn that when a situation is difficult or challenging they can keep pushing and accomplish more that they every imagined they could accomplish,” says Fitzgerald.  “It is so exciting to watch children go from not being able to run a minute without stopping to racing 3.1 miles in 10 short weeks.  The self-pride and self-confidence that they build is something they can carry with them throughout their lives.”