Story and images provided by Stillwater Junior Service League

The Stillwater Junior Service League will host the fifth annual Scorcher Half Marathon and 5K race on Sunday, June 3, 2018 in Stillwater, OK.

This one-of-a-kind course travels through several unique areas of beautiful Stillwater. Starting at the Stillwater High School stadium at 6:30 a.m., runners will first experience the sights of winding neighborhood roads that lead to OSU campus. After the journey on streets near the college campus and passing magnificent Gallagher-Iba Arena, participants will head back toward Pioneer Stadium and finish the race with a lap around Boomer Lake Park.  

The Scorcher, in its fifth year of existence, has become a tradition for some of the participants.  This is a race for the Stillwater Community. 2018 race director Grace Anne Fath said about the race, “The Scorcher Half-Marathon and 5K is a special event hosted by JSL that is close to my heart. Being a runner myself, I have had the opportunity to have hands-on experience piecing together this race. I have been amazed at all of the hard work the women in this service organization put into making the Scorcher a success.”  Fath continued, “It would be such a joy to have the Stillwater community come out on Sunday morning June 3, and participate or support all of those who journey to our town to run.”

Half-marathon and 5K participants will receive a race bag, T-shirt and finishers’ medal. Cash awards will be given to the top three male and female finishers for the half marathon. In addition, age group awards will be given to top finishers of both races.

All proceeds go to the Stillwater Junior Service League, which supports the Stillwater and surrounding communities and various agencies through the efforts of Harvest II (community wide food drive) and Operation Christmas (community-wide toy drive), and Crisis Intervention (offering immediate aid to children at surrounding schools).  

JSL outreach missions support the following 10 agencies in the area: Salvation Army, Cowboys with Compassion, Neighborhood Ministries of Perkins, COCAA: Community Action of Stillwater, Payne County Youth Shelter, Mission of Hope, Wings of Hope, Our Daily Bread, Oklahoma Adult and Teen Challenge, and Operation Christmas Store.

For information about the Scorcher or to register, visit http://www.thescorcherrun.com.