Races and fun run benefit Miss Maricopa pageant

Miss Maricopa Scholarship Pageant organizers are holding a Splash into Summer 5K and a 2-mile race along with 1-mile fun run June 2 to raise money for the Sept. 15 pageant, which is in its second year.

Though there is no registration fee, participants are asked to make a donation before the race. The race will begin at The Villages clubhouse on Butterfield Parkway, said pageant organizer Jeanette Masters.

The 5K and 2-mile race begin at 7 a.m. and the 1-mile fun run begins at 8.

The 5K race course will include Butterfield and some of the greenbelts in The Villages subdivision, while the 2-mile race will be one loop on the parkway, Masters said.

Masters said this is the first race she has ever organized, but is getting help from fellow pageant board member Jennifer Mix, who has helped organize the last few Thanksgiving Day turkey trots in Maricopa.

There will be water stations along the route and a cheering crowd with water guns will squirt participants along the course. At the finish line, the Maricopa Fire Department will provide a special cool down with a fire hose to congratulate the finishers.