The Butterfly Run

This year, the 15th annual Butterfly Run will be staged to help some of East Tennessee’s biggest miracles by partnering with Friends of Tennessee’s Babies with Special Needs (our third Butterfly Run).  The Butterfly Fund family is honored to be working alongside this wonderful organization again this year to continue the event so many of you have supported for the past 14 years. This year, we will again stage our event in the beautiful foothills of Maryville on March 28, 2026.  Proceeds will go to support Friends of Tennessee’s Babies with Special Needs.  This incredible organization works to enhance the potential of infants and young children with disabilities by offering support to their families and the early intervention professionals who serve them.  

We are incredibly excited to invite you to mark your calendar for March the 28th to join us for FOT Babies' third annual Butterfly Run.  Every mile completed, and every dollar raised means over 3,500 Tennessee children with special needs and their families will receive the support, resources and encouragement they need.  More details about this year’s event will be coming soon.  We look forward to joining you to celebrate and support East Tennessee’s babies with special needs!

Location:
Springbrook Park
1561 Dalton St, Alcoa, TN

Description:
3K and 1 Mile Celebration Walk    3K is USATF certified and eligible for Tennessee state records. 

Check-In/Day of Race Registration and Packet Pick Up:  Springbrook Park Gym, 1561 Dalton St, Alcoa, TN.

Pre-Race Packet Pick Up: March 26th from 5-7 p.m. at Dick's Sporting Goods  -  221 Hamilton Crossing Drive, Alcoa, TN 37701

3K Race Check-In and Pick-Up (7:30 am - 8:15 am)   3K Race Starts at 8:30 am    1 Mile Celebration Walk:  Check-In (8:30 - 9:15)  Walk Starts at 9:30 am  

T-SHIRTS: All runners will receive a quality, cotton/poly blend T-shirt if registered by March 15, 2026. Shirts will be available at the early packet pick up on March 27, 2026 at Dick's Sporting Goods in Alcoa, TN (5-7 pm) and the day of the race at the race venue. Participants who register after March 15, 2026 will receive a shirt as long as supplies last.  Those who do not get their packets at the early packet pick up or on race day, may pick them up at the Friends of TN's Babies office through the month of April.  The event will offer additional shirts for purchase to participants who Register by March 15, 2026. Shirts will not be mailed and will only be available at the early packet pickup at Dick's Sporting Goods on March 27th, at the race venue on March 28th, or the FOT office through the month of April.  

AWARDS/PRIZES:  3K Awards ceremony will be held on site at the Springbrook Park Pavilion immediately following the race at approximately 9:00 a.m.  Awards will be given to the top three m/f finishers overall, top m/f master, grandmaster, and veteran, and the top three m/f finishers in each age group. All 3K runners who do not place and all 1-mile Celebration Walk participants will receive a participation medal.

AGE DIVISIONS: Male/Female: 1-10, 11-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80+.  Overall: Male and Female   Masters: Male and Female (40 and older)  Grandmaster: Male and Female (50 and older)  Veteran: Male and Female (60 and older)

GENERAL INFORMATION:  Non-competitive participants in the 3K race will be asked to allow serious timed runners to be in the front. The use of headsets is not recommended due to traffic on race route.  **Wheelchairs and strollers are welcome for both the 3K and 1-mile Celebration Walk.  Both courses are paved and accessible.

Refreshments: Pre/Post-race refreshments will be available before and after the race for all registered participants.

For more information regarding this race, please contact Friends of TN's Babies with Special Needs at www.helpingbabies.org 

This race has included a virtual run option as part of their package of events. The virtual option will be available as a run anywhere course event. That means that a registrant for the virtual option will be able to run the course that they choose for this for option. There will be a window of time that the course can be ran and the distance will be defined as part of the option. In other words if a race offers a 3K virtual option, a participant in that event can run the 3K course that they choose as many times as they choose over the time window offered. The participant will be able to post their time to the RunSignup results page for the virtual event. If they post several times, their last time posted will be the time listed in the results. Virtual participants will be automatically assigned a virtual bib number when they register. The bib number assigned will be included in their online registration confirmation email. They will not actually receive a physical bib as the number is only required when they post their results to the RunSignup results page. Participants in the virtual event will receive a race shirt, but must pick up their shirt at the early packet pickup (if offered) or at the day of race packet pickup. Virtual participants are not eligible for awards.

RaceJoy utilization is included as part of the registration fee. The RaceJoy application utilizes your smart phone's GPS capability to record distance and time.

Click RaceJoy for detailed information about setup and use of the application.

Virtual Participants will be able to utilize the application beginning at 12:00 AM on March 14, 2026 and ending at 11:59 PM on March 29, 2026.   Timed Participants will be able to access the application at 6:00 AM on March 28, 2026 

The race has included access to the RaceJoy Mobile Phone Application as part of the service package for both the virtual event(s) and the traditional timed event(s). The application is a free download from the App Store or GooglePlay.

Participants can access detailed instruction on the setup and use of the application, click here

The application will work the same for each event as far as setup and use of the application. The application will monitor the distance covered and the time spent on the course for each event. The main difference is that the virtual participants can run their run anywhere course multiple times over the defined time window and either utilize the application to record their time on RunSignup or record their time manually. The timed event participants can only run the defined course one time and their official time will be streamed to RunSignup as they cross the finish line.  

Virtual Participant 

For the virtual participants, they can use the application to post their results to RunSignup or they can post their virtual results manually as follows:

Navigate to the race's RunSignup Race Page   select the Result Tab   then select Submit Virtual Results.

Next search for your registration either by first and last name or by email address and DOB. 

Once you have found your registration select Submit Virtual Results   Enter Your Time   then select Submit Results

Timed Event Participant

We furnish the RaceJoy application for the timed events to allow the participants to use the application to monitor their distance ran and the time spent as they proceed around the course. Family and friends can use the application to monitor the participant's progress on the course and send cheers to the participant. The participant does not need to use the application to post their finish time as the timing equipment will stream that data to the results page on RunSignup as the participants cross the finish line. The application can also be used by event administrators to transmit emergency messages to participants if needed.

Participants will be assigned a unique personal url when they register. The participant can encourage their friends to use this url when they register for this event. The system will maintain a count of the number of registrations for each url. When five participants have registered using a participant's personal url, the participant with that url will receive a retroactive refund of $5 to the credit card that they used for registration.

Event will offer additional event shirts for purchase.

Click on the "Store" icon for details and/or to purchase an extra shirt.

The Butterfly 3K Course is certified by USATF and will be eligible for state records. Certification # TN24010MS