McKinney to host The Melon Dash 5K

The race benefits North Texas Cat Rescue.

Photo by Beth Barton

Photo from 2010 Historical Run

If you live in McKinney’s Historic District, you need to know about this race. Not because it is a great community event. Not because it benefits the awesome North Texas Cat Rescue. Not because it is timed to coincide with Chestnut Square’s Farmer’s Market.

You need to know about this event because, if you live the Historic District, there will be runners on the streets the morning of August 6 for The Melon Dash 5K. Please do not run over them. Really, I’m just kidding. There will be runners and it would be preferable if residents did not run over them, but the streets that they will be on will be cordoned off and there will be people making sure that residents do not run over the runners. Drivers may have to take a little detour to avoid them, but the race is in the morning and it won’t take long, so if you’re the type to get annoyed easily, sleep in.

The race begins at 8:15 a.m. The awards for the Dash are at 9:15 a.m.

The course for the 5K starts at Chestnut Square’s Farmer’s Market, runs around the square, up Church Street, down Lamar Street to Board, up to Tucker, then Tucker to Bradley and then down Lamar to Graves where it goes up to Tucker again. I don’t know how far that is. It seems like a long way, so I don’t know if they then turn and run back. There are no areas “trapped” by the route though. There’s a map on the race site, if you aren’t familiar with all of the street names.

There is a Fun Run that starts at 7:45 a.m. It starts at Chestnut Square and runs up and around the square before heading back.

Leading up to the Dash, there are social runs each Wednesday evening at Churchill’s British Pub at 6:30 p.m. (By the way, Churchill’s has recently signed up for Twitter @churchillsmtx. They’ve tweeted a few times. Hopefully, they’ll keep it up.)

Up until July 30, registration is $20. Starting July 30 through August 4, the fee is $25. There is no registration on August 5 but you can sneak in on race day for $30. Registrants will get a 100% cotton T-Shirt with the race logo.

Official photography for the event is provided by Jerry Glover Photography. Check his site after the race for professional pictures of the runners for purchase.

Don’t forget that the race benefits a good cause. One of our cats, Oscar, was rescued by the NTCR and our lives would not be the same without him.