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What do you do when your first attempt at staging a fundraising 5-kilometer race succeeds beyond your wildest dreams?

You just keep on running.

The four women who organized Jennie Carol’s Memorial Mother’s Day Run are doing just that, continuing the venture they began last year to honor the memory of their friend and to raise money for a program that provides meals for low-income schoolchildren.

And they hope the May 8 race will match the success they had last year, when the inaugural race shattered every registration and participation record for local 5K races.

“Our goal is to definitely get 600 runners again,” co-director Amy Longwill said.

This time a year ago, that would have been a pipe dream. Longwill and friends Lori-Ann Clark, Julie Cox and Jenny Tarter thought they might be aiming high last year with their goal of 200 runners, which would have instantly made their race through downtown Danville one of the largest ever held in this area.

Instead, 607 people registered and 512 of them finished the race — roughly twice as many as the largest race that had come before it.

The attraction went beyond the local running community to scores of people competing in their first 5K, many of them drawn by the cause or by a connection to the run’s namesake, late Jennie Tarter, a young mother, elementary school teacher and runner who died at age 34 days before Mother’s Day 2008.

As a result, more than $14,500 was raised for BackPack Kids, a program that provides nutritional support for low-income schoolchildren on weekends and school holidays when they might otherwise miss a meal.

That was accomplished without a major sponsor, but instead with 73 sponsors who gave at least $100 each, which Longwill said ensured that all of the money from registration fees went to their charity.

“That was our goal last year. We set out to raise enough money so that every registration fee went to BackPack Kids,” she said. “Most of our sponsors from last year have already committed (for this year), and some of them have increased their giving.”

Jenny Tarter, the sister-in-law of Jennie Tarter, said organizers will once again be able to donate 100 percent of the proceeds from registrations to their charity.

She said she hopes that will encourage people to continue to support the race during difficult economic times.

“We’re hoping that with the success we had last year that everybody that came will have told a friend about it,” she said. “We think the charity is such a strong and good one ... and we’re very hopeful that that will be an important thing for people, that as the need increases, more people who can give will give.”

Registration fee matches backpack cost

Tarter said she is also hopeful that runners and walkers will not balk at a $3 increase in the registration fee that raises it to $23. She said that isn’t an arbitrary number, but rather the cost of a single backpack in the BackPack Kids program.

“Every time you enter the race, you buy one backpack for a child,” she said

Online registration is available this year through the race’s Web site, www.jenniecarols5k.com. The discounted registration fee of $23 is available through April 23, with the fee increasing to $30 after that. There is also a family discount that allows three or more members of the same immediate family to enter for the price of two, and the opportunity for those who cannot or choose not to run or walk to donate to the run.

Tarter said about 50 people have already registered online, but she knows many more will sign up as race day nears.

“I’ve had a lot of people ask me about it that I know haven’t registered for it,” she said. “I haven’t even registered my family yet.”

She said about 150 people registered on race day last year, and she knows that number will be dependent on the weather. Last year’s race was run under threatening skies, but no rain fell during the run.

“Everything truly fell into place,” Longwill said.

Tarter said organizers are still amazed by the success of the first race.

“Flabbergasted is probably the word,” she said. “There were so many first-time people who had never done a 5K before. Once people do that, you have so much confidence that it’s empowering.”

She said it was also a wonderful legacy for Jennie Tarter.

“She really enjoyed life, and her life was over so quick. It sent a strong message,” Jenny Tarter said. “It also brought a lot of healing to people who were going through the grief process for her.”

Finish line moved inside Centre stadium

This year’s race will again start on Main Street near Third Street, but there will be some changes at the end of the course. Instead of finishing on College Street on the Centre College Campus, participants will enter Farris Stadium from College and finish with about three-quarters of a lap around the stadium track. The popular kids’ run will also be held on the football field.

Longwill said that will allow more room for spectators and for post-race activities.

“We wanted to do that last year, but with the construction getting ready to happen (in the stadium) it wasn’t feasible,” Longwill said.

She said organizers continue to encourage runners and walkers of all levels, from the most serious to the most casual, to enter the event.

“We’ve strongly, strongly encouraged walkers. We had people last year that literally came and did a leisure walk,” Longwill said. “We want this to be a family event. This is in honor of a mom, and we do it for her two boys.”

The awards given out last year — hats, which were another tribute to Jennie Tarter because of the many hats she owned — included traditional categories as well as recognition for the top rookies — runners completing their first 5K — and for parents pushing their children in strollers.

The most popular award was the brown-and-pink race T-shirt designed by Allison Craig. Longwill said Craig is still working on this year’s shirt, which she said will probably be Kentucky blue with the race’s trademark pink cheetah print balloon included in the design.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to use a UK blue shirt. Jennie was a huge UK sports fan,” Longwill said.

* * *

For more information on the run, visit www.jenniecarols5k.com.

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