Registration is now open for the 2025 Run Back to School!

Celebrate the start of the 2025-26 school year with Milwaukee Public Schools and Milwaukee Recreation at the 18th annual MPS Run Back to School!

Join us for this 5K run/1.5-mile walk. Proceeds support MPS youth sports, wellness, and recreation programs.

Event Details

• Date: Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025
• Starting Line: MPS Central Services Building (5225 W. Vliet St.)
• Start Time: 9 a.m. (Participant check-in and race bag pick-up will end at 8:50 a.m. Participants will not be allowed to start the course after 9:10 a.m.)
• Cost: $5 for youth/$20 for adults
• Course Map (to be posted at a later date)

Parking information will be available at a later date.

Registration Information

Use this link to register online. Walk-up registration is available on site on the day of the event from 7:30-8:30 a.m.

Event Highlights

• All participants receive a commemorative t-shirt.
• Family friendly, community event! Strollers welcome, please no animals. However, service animals are welcomed.
• All youth participants receive medals.
• Medals for top-three male and female runners in five age categories (adult female, adult male, elementary, middle school, high school).
• Live DJ for entertainment before and after the event
• Replenish after the 5K race/1.5-mile walk with a nutritious snack bag.
• All proceeds benefit youth sports, wellness, and recreation programs.

Schools can receive up to $1,000 in grants by forming an RBTS team!

Make sure you rally your team for the Run Back to School race and apply for a grant for your school! Registration is simple; at the end of the online registration process, type in your school's name.

Not only will you help kick off the 2024-25 school year with hundreds of local MPS supporters, school communities with at least 25 registered participants are eligible for a $500 grant to support a sport or wellness need in their school! The school with the most registered participants is eligible for a $1,000 grant to support a sport, recreation, or wellness need in their school! Anyone from the community can join a school team. After the race, school teams who met the minimum participant requirement will need to fill out a form that states how the funds will be used in order to receive the grant.

In the past, schools have used the grant funds for: 

• new gym and sports equipment
• new uniforms
• sports registration fees