TVC5K - Run The Runway

Join us for the fifth edition of the Run The Runway at the Cherry Capital Airport benefiting the Wings of Mercy West Michigan

PACKET PICK UP AT 5:00-7:00 PM Friday 5/15/2026 AT "Fleet Feet" ,300 EAST FRONT ST , TRAVERSE CITY,   MI

PACKET PICKUP ALSO RACE DAY AT THE TENT.

TVC5K “Run the Runway”. A 5K run/walk for charity held on the  actual closed down north south runway of Cherry Capital Airport. Every year the outstanding team at TVC, Cherry Capital airport lets us shut down one runway and we get to run right down the middle of where the planes land and take off. Please come join us for a great event on a unique location few people get to experience.  The purpose of this race is to raise awareness of Wings of Mercy in Northern Michigan.  Wings of Mercy offers free flights to distant medical destinations for families who can’t afford to travel commercially. Since 1991, our volunteer pilots have donated over 8,000 flights to some of the best hospitals and treatment centers east of the Rocky Mountains. It has been our privilege to serve hundreds of patients from Traverse City and Northern Michigan, and we hope to make an even bigger impact in this region. I'm not only race director I am  a volunteer pilot for Wings of Mercy. I flew patients almost 10,000 miles last year! The 2025 TVC5K , sold out with 500+ runners and we had multiple corporate sponsors. We were able to raise over 24,000 dollars and even signed up a couple of new volunteer pilots.  We are upscaling this year and opening the gates to 700 runners. Because the race takes place on the airport we are offering up close and personal access to airplanes and helicopters and a chance to chat with aviation professionals. The people that come to race will have access to the North Flight AeroMed helicopter, a Cessna 172 and a floatplane from Northwest Michigan College Aviation department,  and some of the fire trucks and rescue vehicles that protect all of the passengers and pilots who use Cherry Capital Airport. We are planning on having the Women in Aviation booth as well as Civil Air Patrol present at the race venue. The US Coast Guard base is directly across the ramp from the start of the race and they will have one of the UH60 Jayhawk helicopters on the ramp. We embrace aviation and hope to share our passion for it with all people who attend the race and hopefully spark the interest of young people to follow their dreams and choose aviation as a career.

Looking forward to seeing you on race day!

Steve Melvin , race director, volunteer pilot,

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