On a late-August Thursday evening, when the Oklahoma heat finally begins to soften and the gates of the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden are ordinarily locking up for the night, something unusual happens. Up to 1,500 runners gather at the entrance, collect their wristbands, and set off into the park after closing hours, not for a race against the clock, but for a wandering, roughly three-mile loop through one of the state's most beloved wildlife institutions. The occasion is the Red Coyote Zoo Run Club, an evening fun run set for Thursday, August 27 at 6 p.m. It is a partnership among three Oklahoma City institutions: Red Coyote Running and Fitness, the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden, and Boldt, a construction company with deep roots in the state. Registration is online and capped at 1,500 runners; adults pay $12 and children three to eleven pay $8, with kids two and under free. Every registration dollar goes directly to the Zoo's monarch conservation efforts, and the first $5,000 raised will be matched by Boldt. It's an all-paces, all-abilities affair; organizers are quick to note that you don't need to be a serious runner to join. Strollers are welcome, dogs are not, and misters are stationed along the course to keep everyone cool in the Oklahoma summer.
The choice of the monarch as the beneficiary is no accident of timing. The event coincides with the start of the monarch butterfly's fall migration. Oklahoma provides vital habitat for monarch populations that funnel through the state each spring and fall during their annual migration from central Mexico to southern Canada. The Zoo has made monarch recovery a signature mission. It leads research on monarchs and other pollinators in Oklahoma, provides funding and training for schools to create pollinator gardens through the Living Classrooms Grant Program, and leads a rare milkweed headstart program, while also providing funding for collaborative monarch conservation efforts throughout Oklahoma.
The run is also a celebration of Oklahoma City's running community. Red Coyote, the running store at the heart of the event, is itself a local success story. Founded in March 2010 by co-owners Burke and Jon Beck, it was named after their dog, Pancho, who looks like a red coyote. The couple had managed the largest running store in the United States in San Diego before moving to Burke's hometown of Oklahoma City to open their own shop. They brought a focus on running as a community, offering the free slow-motion video gait analysis to help every customer find the right shoe. By 2015 the store was named Best Running Store in the U.S. by Competitor magazine.
After the run, participants gather in a vendor area where they can demo footwear, enter to win prizes, and, for those twenty-one and older with a valid ID, sample Boldt Brew, a custom Belgian blonde ale crafted by Iron Monk Brewing Company. The event also highlights Boldt, which has provided professional construction services in Oklahoma since 1984, a reminder that conservation in Oklahoma is rarely the work of any single group; it is an alliance of businesses, nonprofits, scientists, and neighbors.
The Zoo's leadership is enthusiastic about the collaboration. "We're delighted to host Red Coyote's Zoo Run Club for another event and welcome our new partner, Boldt, to be a part of this running celebration for conservation," said Mandy Heaps, executive director of the Oklahoma Zoological Society. "These events continue to be incredibly popular within the community. You have the unique, scenic course that the Zoo provides plus a meaningful way for fans to take action for conservation and make a difference for Oklahoma's wildlife and wild places. It's a winning event all around!"
For participants, the draw is simple: a chance to see one of Oklahoma's great public spaces in a way that few ever do, in the soft light of an August evening, among hundreds of neighbors moving at their own pace. Runners will pass through exhibits whose animals are winding down for the night and along pathways that on any other evening would be closed to the public. The registration money does the quiet work of the milkweed head protection, the pollinator gardens, and the school programs that help ensure the butterflies return, both this season and for seasons to come.
Wristbands for the run are available at Red Coyote's Oklahoma City store on Wednesday, August 26, and Thursday morning before the event, a chance for the Pack, as Red Coyote calls its community, to skip the lines. Registration, capped at 1,500 and required online, is the only gate. After that, it's simply a matter of lacing up, joining the slow-moving parade through the zoo, and hoping, as the monarchs begin to move overhead, that every mile is one small stride toward a future where the butterflies still have a place to land.