About the Race

The Run for Shelter 5K is a race/walk sponsored by UMD Habitat for Humanity and held once every spring and fall. The event is now in its third year and is rapidly growing.

The Run for Shelter course starts just inside the main entrance of the University of Maryland campus, then joins up with a tree-lined portion of Paint Branch Trail. It soon opens up to a scenic view of 38-acre Lake Artemesia, forming a loop around a portion of the lake and then rejoining Paint Branch Trail for the return to the finish line. The course is entirely paved and mostly flat, making it perfect for participants of any level of ability.

The fastest male and female runners receive prizes, but many of the people who participate aren’t serious runners. They come to stay fit, enjoy a beautiful morning, or just to meet new people and have fun. There are no age restrictions to participate, and people are welcome to sign up for the race in groups. All proceeds from the race go to Habitat for Humanity and its mission of ending poverty housing and homelessness.

Past Race Results

Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing simple, decent, and affordable housing to families who lack adequate shelter. In its effort to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness worldwide, Habitat for Humanity enlists the help of volunteers to build houses, which are then sold to carefully selected low-income families at a low price and with a zero interest mortgage. Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has built over 225,000 houses worldwide.

The University of Maryland chapter of Habitat for Humanity is a student organization that builds houses in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of Baltimore. In addition to build trips every Saturday, UMD Habitat for Humanity leads weeklong winter and spring break trips to build in the south, and holds other events throughout the year to both publicize the cause of poverty housing and to raise the $25,000 necessary to build each house.