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Milwaukee Recreation
 

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Run Back to School

 Start Line at 2023 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

Registration Information

Online registration is now closed for the event. Walk-up registration is available on site on the day of the event from 7:30-8:30 a.m.

Parking

The main entrance to the parking lot of the MPS Central Services building will not be open to vehicles.

Instead, all vehicles must enter and exit through the back entrance of the MPS Central Services building parking lot, which is located off of Martin Dr. (drivers can access Martin Dr. via Hawley Rd.). Please see this parking lot and event layout for more information.

Event Highlights

  • Enrollment booth for the 2025-26 MPS school year on site.
  • 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.

Inclement Weather Procedures

In the event the race is cancelled prior to the start due to inclement weather, an email will be sent out and this webpage will be updated the morning of the event by 6:30 a.m.

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 2025-26 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

School Leaderboard

Thank you to our 2025 Run Back to School event sponsors!

Run Back to School 2025 Sponsors

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