Fifth annual Hilltopper Run set for Aug. 16
Smith’s Marketplace will host the fifth Hilltopper Run on Aug. 16, with a 5-mile start at 6:45 a.m. and a 5K at 8:30 a.m.
Runners will line up outside Smith’s Marketplace in Los Alamos on Aug. 16 for the fifth annual Hilltopper Run, with the 5-mile race starting at 6:45 a.m. and the 5K following at 8:30 a.m. The schedule gives serious runners an early start and keeps the shorter distance accessible for families and casual participants.
The Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation has also used the Hilltopper name to widen the event’s reach. Recent foundation listings have included a kid’s 1-mile run at 9:30 a.m., turning the morning into more than a race for adults and giving younger runners a place on the course as well.
TCR Productions of Albuquerque is hosting the event. The foundation identifies the company as a sports event business owned by Tom Rojas, a Los Alamos High School alumnus from the Class of 1972. That local connection matters in a county where school identity and community athletics overlap, especially when an event carries the Hilltopper name.
Proceeds from the run go to the Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation to benefit public education. The foundation says it was created after a 2004 recommendation from the Los Alamos Public Schools Board of Education’s Financial Stability Task Force, giving the race a direct tie to school fundraising rather than recreation alone.
The Hilltopper Run has also developed the kind of staying power that helps a small community calendar. Prior notices placed the race at Canyon Rim Trail at the west end of Canyon and Trinity, and a 2024 listing described it as a race with a fitness walk component. ChronoTrack results for a Hilltopper Run 25 in Los Alamos on Aug. 17, 2025 also show that the event included timed competition, not just a fun run.
For Los Alamos families, the practical details are simple: the race is set for a Saturday morning outside Smith’s Marketplace, the main distances are 5 miles and 5K, and younger runners have had a place in the lineup in recent years. For school supporters, the draw is just as clear. The Hilltopper Run links a community fitness morning to direct support for local public education.
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