Annual Migration Run returns Sunday

Published 8:30 am Friday, May 8, 2026

The Kachemak Bay Running Club will host the annual 5K Migration Run on Sunday, May 10, starting at 10 a.m.

The race originated as part of the annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, according to a May 3 press release from KBRC, and the club is “proud to still be a sponsor of this important, community event.”

Most of the proceeds of this event will benefit the KBRC youth fund, which offers grants to support local youth running programs throughout the year.

The Migration Run is a USA Track & Field-certified 5K race and will follow a flat, point-to-point course along the Homer Spit Trail, starting at the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon and ending at the base of the Homer Spit.

Online registration is available through Saturday, May 9, and is $25 for adults and $10 for youth ages 17 and under. Registration will also be available on race day from 9-9:45 p.m., and will be $30 for adults and $15 for youth.

Current adult KBRC members may also receive a $5 discount on race registration fees for both early and race-day registration.

New this year, following the 5K race is a KBRC-sponsored 1-mile kids and family fun run, starting at approximately 10:45 a.m. Runners will follow an out-and-back course starting and ending at Migration Run finish line located at the base of the Spit.

Registration for this event is free and will be held Sunday from 9-9:45 a.m. in the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon parking lot. According to the release, all youth finishers in the 1-mile fun run will receive a congratulatory ribbon.

The Migration Run will also include the final event for runners participating in the Girls on the Run and Let Me Run youth mentoring programs managed by South Peninsula Haven House. Both programs are part of Haven House’s primary prevention efforts to “support social connectedness, positive peer norms, meaningful youth participation and collective responsibility,” the nonprofit’s website states.

Girls on the Run is one of Haven House’s “longest-standing efforts” and is offered to all Homer elementary school-aged girls in grades 3-6. Let Me Run is a grant-supported after-school program offered more recently for elementary school-aged boys, in which coaches “follow a unique curriculum that uses the power of running to encourage boys to develop their emotional, social and physical health.”

“It’s a fantastic program with a full curriculum that doesn’t just include running but also wellness and social and emotional learning components,” KBRC treasurer Matthew Smith wrote in an email to Homer News Monday.

“It’s a great opportunity for young people to connect with other supportive adults in the community. The volunteers that have shown up for both programs are some fantastic people.”

Both the Girls on the Run and Let Me Run programs will graduate 13 girls and 11 boys with a celebratory 5K run on Sunday, going in the opposite direction of the official 5K Migration Run. The race will start at the base of the Homer Spit and finish at the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon.

“I can’t wait to cheer for those guys,” Smith wrote.

Learn more about the Migration Run and find the official 5K race registration link at kachemakbayrunningclub.org/event/2026-migration-5k-run/.