The North Captiva Fun Run/Walk resumed on New Year’s Eve last month, with a record number of sponsors and participants.  About 400 people met at the corner of Rum Road and Bartlett Parkway to kick off the 9th Annual Fun Run, a tradition that was started in 2013 and interrupted by Covid-19 last year.  The fundraiser benefits the Upper Captiva Fire & Rescue Department and it raised $17,500, which will be used in part to improve some of the island roads.

This year we made some changes to try to make it easier to sign up, pay, and buy merchandise. L.A. Brickner and David Bolme collaborated on a new online registration/sign-up process on the Fire District website which allowed registrants to sign-up including the required waiver, pay, and choose the t-shirt size for their complimentary Fun Run t-shirt. We also created a special online Sponsorship choice which allowed for online giving. Whether these conveniences accounted for a part of the record sponsorship and participant numbers, or if it was pent up demand from the pandemic cancelled event from last year, we may never know. In either case, convenience is always a good thing.

A few 2021 women’s and children’s t-shirts are still available for sale (sorry, men’s sizes are sold out).  Additionally, there are 2020 “Covid Stole My Fun Run” shirts available.  You may contact Teresa Bolme for details on how to get your hands on these limited editions.

We look forward to hosting the event that brings together our fire department, residents, local businesses, and guests next year on December 30, a day earlier than New Year’s Eve to avoid conflicts with Saturday rental turnovers. Our thanks go out to Tom Jenkins, who once again was the lead organizer of the event, L.A. Brickner who managed the details and logistics, and the many volunteers who helped with t-shirts, online and paper registration, and other efforts to make the event successful.