Get Involved
About the Red Shoe Run & Walk 5K
Sunday, May 2, 2027 | Lower City Park, Iowa City
Run it or walk it—every step helps a family stay together during medical treatment.
Since 1984, the Ronald McDonald House Eastern Iowa & Western Illinois Red Shoe Run & Walk has united runners, walkers, volunteers, sponsors, and community members in support of families with seriously ill or injured children. What began as the first fundraiser to help build the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City has grown into our longest-running fundraising event and a cherished community tradition.
Today, proceeds from the Red Shoe Run help provide families with a place to stay, warm meals, and caring support while their child receives medical treatment. For 42 years and counting, every step taken and every dollar raised has helped keep families close, allowing them to focus on what matters most—healing, hope, and being together.
Interested in sponsoring?
When you sponsor the race, you cover the costs of the day so every registration dollar goes straight to supporting families. The 2026 race raised more than $45,000 for families in our community. We’d love to talk with you about getting involved. Reach us at development@ronaldmcdonaldhouseic.org
Thank you to our 2026 Red Shoe Run & Walk sponsors!
Title Level Sponsor
Scheels
Race Level Sponsors
Miller Family Foundation
ImOn
Zone Level Sponsors
University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital
First Supply
Focus Real Estate
Cheer Zone Level Sponsors
Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust
Bradley Riley
HB
Cart Level Sponsors
Stock
Mann's McDonald's
Fox Pest
Media Sponsors
Frequently Asked Questions About the Red Shoe Run
Yes, and plenty of people do. Same start, same course. Course marshals stay out until noon, so there’s no rush.
Yes — RunSignup handles teams, and you can set up a fundraising page for yours.
Strollers and leashed dogs are both welcome.
Yes. The registration table at Lower City Park opens at 7 a.m., so you can decide the night before and still make the start. Shirts on race morning are first-come, first-served.
Results post to True Time Racing, which keeps every year back to 2016. Virtual results post to RunSignup shortly after the race.
It stays with this chapter. Every dollar funds the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City and the Ronald McDonald Family Rooms at University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital, where families are never charged for a room.
There are eleven different roles we need, most of them a few hours on a Sunday morning: course marshals, water stop, snack table, finish line, kids zone, and two people willing to wear the mascot costumes. There’s also truck loading the Friday before and unloading the Monday after. See our open volunteer shifts.
Other ways to show up for families
Governor's Charity Steer Show
A show ring and an auction at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.
Golf Gala
An evening at a ball-tracking driving range in Bettendorf. Golfers and non-golfers both welcome.
Red Shoe Open
Join us for eighteen holes at beautiful Blue Top Ridge in Riverside.
Other Ways to Give
Every option, from a one-time gift to a corporate partnership.