Community
Excerpt from News of Orange article, March 7th, 2013, by Erin Wiltgen, News of Orange staff writer
And the nonprofit has grand plans for the future, as well. Not only do committee members hope to bring a half marathon to the town—perhaps called Hillsborough half—they also want to become self sustainable and give back to the community.
“I know that as a nonprofit organization, it’s going to be tough at the beginning,” Westbrook said. “However, we’ve got high hopes for this thing. We see us generating enough funds where we’ll be able to take care of ourselves and the things that we want to provide for members.
“We would like to provide to the community, as well. We see us giving back to the youth in fitness and making donations to organizations that promote those things as well, and that’s our hopes and dreams. We’re going to stick to them and hopefully make them happen.”
It took a few years to discuss, plan and put on that first Hillsborough Half Marathon, but we did it, and have added a few more great events to our calendar since then. We strive to continue to put on great, small town races.
With the success of our events, both for the runner and financially, we have been fortunate to fulfill another dream of our founders, and that is to give back to the community. We have been able to achieve that through donations to numerous local organizations, as well as hosting our own fun, and free Turkey Trot (1mile and 5K) each year.
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TOTAL DONATIONS MADE AS OF 30 OCTOBER 2024
$114,439.94
Beneficiaries to date:
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American Homes Preservation Trust (Management of the Historic Occoneechee Speedway Track, Ayr Mount)
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Kiwanis Club of Hillsborough
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Orange County Schools (PTSO, Athletic Boosters)
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Team Drea Foundation (ALS Research)
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Exchange Park Club, Hillsborough
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​Town of Hillsborough Police Department, Community initiatives
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Orange County Sherriff's Office [Hurricane Helene Relief Effort]​
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Hillsborough/Orange County, Chamber of Commerce
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Ronald McDonald House Charities
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WHUP Radio, Hillsborough
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PORCH, collected goods each year from our Turkey Trot
Let’s Work Together
Volunteering at Events
It's fun to volunteer, and it's great to be able to give back to the running community, through race volunteering, or trail maintenance work. As well as helping with our own events, many of our members also help out at other local events too.
We have helped out with race preparation, out on the course, and take on various duties at aid stations.
HRC Adopted Highway
Early in 2024, HRC adopted a stretch of Highway. We now take care of an almost 2 mile stretch of Ben Johnston Road, as you head from Hillsborough to I85. For those who have run in the Historic Hillsborough Half Marathon, it is the stretch that goes to the turn around point in the race. We wanted to again do our bit for the community, as well as make sure the road is clean for our runners.
Our good friends and Club partners at Race the Nation, have also adopted a stretch of highway on the other side of Hillsborough on New Sharon Church Road.
Thinking of planning your own event?
If you are planning your own event, we may be able to help. Below is a list of topic for consideration when planning a running event. Please reach out, and we will be happy to talk more about all of these topics.
