Summer Scamper
Stanford, CA
- 5K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Join us for the Summer Scamper 5K, Kids’ Fun Run, and Family Festival! Summer Scamper is the biggest annual community event benefiting Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford! Join us on the Stanford campus to walk, run, Scamper, and celebrate. When you Scamper, you’re joining a community united in racing toward … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Jun 21):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 79 | 66 | 74 | 68 | 98 |
| L (°F) | 56 | 50 | 55 | 51 | 62 |
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Nice, well organized and supported race
This is a nice, family-friendly local race that is a fund-raising event for the Hospital and Clinics at Stanford. It's well organized, they work to keep things on schedule, and … MORE
This is a nice, family-friendly local race that is a fund-raising event for the Hospital and Clinics at Stanford. It’s well organized, they work to keep things on schedule, and the post-race activities and tables w/ swag and hosted by their various affiliated organizations are nice. Kids’ fun run afterwards is well put together (try corraling a bunch of 3-10 year olds). They send bib and t-shirt via mail, and parking is easy (so no need to have to plan early arrival on race morning).
5 years of scampering at stanford
i participated in the inaugural summer scamper in 2011, as well as the following year, but have not been able to work this event into my schedule the past two … MORE
i participated in the inaugural summer scamper in 2011, as well as the following year, but have not been able to work this event into my schedule the past two years. this year, i signed up early, with my run group, as we decided to participate and support lucille packard children’s hospital together as a team. i love that this event focuses on kids, and even has a kids run in addition to the main distances.
for this particular event, there was a choice of 2 distances:
1. 10k (6.2 miles)
2. 5k (3.1 miles)
children between the ages of 3 and 10 had their own kids’ fun run, broken down as such:
1. ages 3-4, 200 yard run
2. ages 5-6, 400 yard run
3. ages 7-8, 600 yard run
4. ages 9-10, half mile run
the pros:
+VERY REASONABLE race fees, $30 for the 5k and $35 for the 10k. since my group was registered as a team, i saved an additional $5 on registration.
+FREE and EASY PARKING on stanford’s campus, in the lot directly across the street from the registration and finish line festival area (which was just a couple minutes walk from the start line)
+FRIENDLY VOLUNTEERS directing runners in the parking area, manning aid stations along the course, flagging runners to ensure that we stayed on course, and keeping the refreshments’ tables well stocked at the post-race festival area.
+LOTS of PORTA-POTTIES by the start/finish line as well as the festival area. we also had access to the proper restrooms at the stanford track which was where the kids’ races took place.
what you get:
*choice of BIB AND TSHIRT PICKUP at campbell sports basement two days before the race or fleet feet sports menlo park the day before the race. for those who couldn’t attend either, they could pick up their bib and shirt at the registration tent the morning of the race.
*teal, DRI FIT FINISHER’S SHIRT with a white summer scamper logo
*VIRTUAL GOODY BAG, emailed to all registered participants the week of the race, with discounts to local retailers
*several AID STATIONS with volunteers handing out cups of water
*customised SUMMER SCAMPER MEDAL for each child who crossed the finish line at the kids’ race. these were super cute and i know that all of the kids loved these special medals that were made exclusively for them!
*TONS of POST-RACE FOOD & DRINKS, including assorted bagels, bananas, oranges, KIND bars, and water.
*SPONSORS including lyfe kitchen, farm hill, kind water, kombucha, offering samples of their food, including chocolate chip cookies, mango salsa, kale salad, date bars, flavoured water, and kombucha shots.
*lots of FINISH LINE FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES, including games, more food, and opportunities to win prizes from local sponsors
the cons:
-race started 5 minutes late. both the 5k and 10k were supposed to start at 8am sharp, but they did not begin announcements until this time which delayed the start til 8:05am.
-courses were not marked properly. when comparing the official 5k course from the website to the course charted out by my garmin watch, the routes did not match and i could see that one section was missed, shortening the course by roughly 0.27 miles, which is about 9% of the distance for a 5k. my friends who ran the 10k with a garmin system reported that they ran about 5.75 miles, almost 1/2 mile short of the official 6.2 miles for a 10k.
-i only saw the mile 1 marker along the course, but nothing beyond that….it made me wonder whether this was intentional or perhaps i just didn’t see the mile 2 and mile 3 markers.
-there were lots of short, sharp turns along both courses, making it necessary to slow down frequently
-although i was given the small size tshirt that i signed up for, the shirts were all unisex, and mine was far too big for me. it was even too big for my husband who normally wears a small or medium sized tshirt. it would have been nice to offer both a women’s cut shirt and men’s cut shirt for proper fitting.
-no finisher medals for 5k & 10k participants, only the kids’ races
since the course was marked short, i ended up with a terrific 5k finish time, one that i knew was not possible given my current running abilities. i still ended up finishing 2nd in my age group, and 12th female, which surprised me considering the fact that nearly 2000 participated in the 5k, with more than half of these being women.
i did not walk away with an additional medal or prize since there were only awards for the top 3 overall men and women per distance, and winner for each age group. but i still enjoyed the awards ceremony since the announcer did a good job and many teams and kiddies took photos on stage after.
overall, a well-organized event, but i hope they make the necessary corrections to both the 5k and 10k courses for next year so that the distances are as accurate as possible.
race to benefit lucille packard's kids!
overall, a very well organized race. before i begin this review, i want to thank the race organizers and volunteers for making this another successful event! as a two-time participant … MORE
overall, a very well organized race. before i begin this review, i want to thank the race organizers and volunteers for making this another successful event! as a two-time participant in this local event, i was again very pleased with the outcome. my feeling is that there was a larger turnout this year which is great; more proceeds to benefit lucille packard children’s hospital!
early packet pickup was on fri 6/22 @ fleet feet sports, menlo park, and the pickup process was seamless. the official pickup time block was 2-8pm, but they were ready well before then, since i arrived around 1.45pm and was able to pickup my bib and tshirt. i was in and out in under 5 minutes. this was much better organized compared to last year, when i waited in line for over 30 minutes.
as far as the actual event on sat 6/23, there were more than enough parking spaces, all of which were very close to the start line (choice of covered parking structure or open parking lot). stanford university parking is free on the weekend, another bonus.
i participated in the 5k event again this year, and here’s what i thought:
1. well-organized start, 5k’ers took off 10 minutes after the 10k’ers took off to allow for a less congested start
2. separate course from the 10k this year, so we’re not all packed in together
3. dedicated aid station, i felt one was sufficient for the 5k distance
4. lots and lots of volunteers directing participants, to ensure we were following the correct route, and also volunteers guiding traffic to ensure everyone’s safety
5. lots of food and drink at the finish line/post-race expo, much more than last year. CPK even came out with pizza, sandwiches and salad! i also saw pinkberry with frozen yogourt.
6. a kids area, with fun activities for kids while they waited for their kids’ races to begin
7. plentiful porta-potties this year; even though i went just a few minutes before the gun went off, i didn’t have to wait in line, which was great (last year, the lines were much longer, i suspect due to fewer porta-potties)
8. beautiful course, passing through many of stanford’s key landmarks
the few things i did not like this year:
1. the course was different from last year and involved many more turns and corners this year. more turns make it harder for those of us who are running fast and trying to get to the finish line asap. i liked last year’s course better.
2. the course was not marked properly. mile 1 came approx 0.9 miles (according to my garmin) and mile 2 came approx 1.85 miles. also, there was no mile 3 marker, which made the final mile and change feel like it lasted a long time.