HENRY VILAS ZOO - RUN WILD
HENRY VILAS ZOO - RUN WILD logo

HENRY VILAS ZOO - RUN WILD

Madison, Wisconsin, United States View on map
Sep 27, 2026 (America/Chicago local time)
Running

About this race

Support Henry Vilas Zoo and our wildlife ranger friends in the Ol Jogi Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya! A portion of every registration goes to support their important work preserving critically endangered species like black rhinos and Grevy's zebra, and providing them with the best medical care possible.ย 

Everyone who runs or walks will receive a Run Wild t-shirt. You can sign up for Run Wild as a 5k or 10k distance. Join us at the Zoo on Sunday, September 27 for one of our biggest fundraisers of the year! The 5k and 10k races start just outside our South gate on Vilas Park Dr. The Kids Fun Run starts just outside our North gate.

**The 10k race start at 8am. The 5k run and walk starts at 8:15am. Participants walking or pushing strollers will be asked to line up in the back of the queue. The kid's fun run begins at 9:30am. **

Race Packets may be picked up before the race at the Zoo in our Guest Services building from 10am - 4pm starting Friday, September 11.ย 

** We encourage participants to pick up their race packets early. We cannot guarantee shirt sizes if you wait until the day of the race to pick up your race packet.**

Ol Jogi is a 58,000 acres wildlife conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya. They focus on wildlife conservation by providing a safe habitat for indigenous and critically endangered species. Their wildlife rangers work closely with surrounding communities to assist them so they can derive support and benefits from this conservation work.

Pick your distance

Running

5K Run

This is a timed race. If you would prefer to walk or do not need to know your race time, please consider signing up for the 5k Walk.

Sep 27, 2026 5K 8:15 AM
$48.00
Closed

10K Run

Sep 27, 2026 10K 8:00 AM
$48.00
Closed

Kids Fun Run

The race will start just outside of our north gate (Drake & Randall intersection). The route goes around Vilas Park and down Vilas Park Drive and the finish line is just inside the Zoo's south entrance. Spectators usually have enough time to cheer on their runner at the start and then get to the finish line by the time kids are finishing. Adults cannot register for this event. If you have a child too young to participate alone, you can accompany them, but we ask that you line up in the back of the queue. We have cheerleaders and Zoo staff along the run route to guide runners. We are always looking for more cheerleaders to support our youngest runners. If you have a child running in this race and would like to volunteer as a course guide, please email: volunteer@henryvilaszoo.gov

Sep 27, 2026 1.6K 9:30 AM
$30.00
Closed

Walking

5K Walk

The 5K Walk is not timed. If you would prefer to know your exact race time, please select the run/walk option. This race starts at the same time as the 5K Run, but anyone walking will be asked to line up in the back of the starting area.

Sep 27, 2026 5K 8:15 AM
$48.00
Closed

Typical race-day weather

Based on 11 years of Open-Meteo archive data for this event's race dates in Madison, plus the 3 days either side.

Temp (ยฐC)
Minimum temperature (race-week average) 13.7ยฐ / Maximum temperature (race-week average) 22.7ยฐ
Feels Like (ยฐC)
Minimum feels like โ€” heat index / wind chill (race-week average) 13.3ยฐ / Maximum feels like โ€” heat index / wind chill (race-week average) 23.3ยฐ
Peak wind (km/h)
Strongest wind of the day (race-week average)
17.6
Precip (mm)
Precipitation over the day (race-week average)
3.2mm
Humidity
Mean relative humidity (race-week average)
75.7%
Sunrise
Sunrise at the start line on September 27, 2026 (CDT)
Sunset
Sunset at the start line on September 27, 2026 (CDT)
Daylight
Hours between sunrise and sunset on race day
11h 55m

The sun rises at 6:50 AM and sets at 6:46 PM local time (CDT) in Madison on September 27, 2026 โ€” 11h 55m of daylight.

Course

No course map published yet.

The organizer hasn't released a route for this event, and we don't publish guesses. If you're the organizer, send us a GPX file and we'll draw the profile.

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2026 results โ€” HENRY VILAS ZOO - RUN WILD

758 finishers across 2 distances ยท leading places in the 5K Run

View all results
Leading finishers of the 2026 HENRY VILAS ZOO - RUN WILD
Place Name Time Pace
1 Tim Pollari 17:53 5:45 /mi
2 Weston Heisler 18:17 5:53 /mi
3 Richard Melville 19:02 6:08 /mi
4 Lucas Aplin 19:05 6:09 /mi
5 Ramiro Lopez 19:16 6:12 /mi

Every finisher is on the results page, filterable by distance, gender and age group.

All results by year

2026 edition View Results
2025 edition View Results
2024 edition View Results
2023 edition View Results
2022 edition View Results
2021 edition View Results
2020 edition View Results

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Where this page comes from. Race details were last updated on . We re-check listings regularly and again in the week before race day.

  • Entries, prices, waves and inclusions โ€” the event's official registration page
  • Temperature and humidity โ€” Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)
  • Elevation and terrain relief โ€” Copernicus DEM GLO-90, ESA (CC BY 4.0)
  • Comparisons and counts โ€” Race Discovery calendar, 39 Madison events

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