Breeze Thru the Trees is a 5k cross country run winding through a lush tree nursery in Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve.

Proceeds from Breeze Thru the Trees will benefit the Montgomery County Children’s Opportunity Alliance, which is working to build an equitable, accessible, high-quality, and sustainable early childhood system that narrows disparities and puts all young children on a path to reach their greatest potential.

Grounded in collaboration and accountability for each other, the alliance convenes stakeholders across all sectors in order to forge a thriving, justice-based system at the county level. The Children’s Opportunity Alliance believes that when the smallest among us flourish, we all experience well-being.

Please join us on April 6th, 2025 for Breeze Thru the Trees, a 5k race and fun run held on Ruppert Nurseries’ 500 acre tree farm in Laytonsville, MD.

Welcome back to the Makin’ Hay 10K & 5K!  We can’t wait to have you claim bragging rights after conquering one of these challenging but scenic courses on Saturday, April 19, 2025.

The scenic and rolling 10K and 5k courses will take you on a journey through some of the prettiest farmland in Frederick County.  Spring will be ushering forth in color as you run past numerous farms, along Catoctin Creek on a gravel road, and across two, historic one-lane, wooden deck bridges spanning Catoctin Creek. 5-year age group awards!!!

Race Day Schedule: 0700 – 0820 Bib Pickup; 0830-10K Start; 0835-5K Start; 1030-course closes for both events.

Bib pickup closes at 8:20 sharp for both events, with vehicular access to the park closing at that time. No late starts – plan your arrival time accordingly. Running strollers are allowed, but the wearing of headphones/earbuds is strongly discouraged as both courses are held on open roads where vehicular traffic may be encountered.

Our 5K option offers half the distance and half of the elevation change of our 10K, is all on paved surfaces, crosses one wooden deck bridge twice, and also provides some amazingly sweeping vistas!

Finishers of the in-person 5K and 10K will receive a custom finisher’s medal in 2024. Short-sleeved tee-shirts are available as an add-on purchase up until 4/1/2024.

Awards: Overall top 3 male and female finishers in each race will receive a custom award (no double-dipping). In our 5-year age-groups, the top 3 in each will take home a custom glass acknowledging their achievement. The John Godinet Memorial Mid-Pack Maven Award will be presented to the 10K participant that finishes smack-dab in the middle of the pack!

Want more hills…and bragging rights? Makin’ Hay will be teaming up with our friends at the Friends of Cunningham Falls 5K/10K to give those who wish to take on these two, hilliest 5k/10k courses in the region in 2025 a little extra bling! We will also crown the King and Queen of the Hills at the Friends race in November. Friends is typically held on the first Sunday of November, so you’ve got just over 6 months between these two beautiful, but challenging events. For info: https://runsignup.com/Race/MD/Thurmont/Friends10K5K

With a return to in-person running events, be assured that we will, at a minimum, be following current local, state, and CDC guidance dicta regarding coronavirus mitigation procedures.

Refund Policy: You will be given the opportunity to purchase event insurance during registration from a third-party provider. Registrants will be able to initiate a partial refund via their RunSignup profile up until 30 days prior to the event. After that, no individual refunds or transfers.