Grantham cancels Old Home Day 5K for 2026

Grantham has canceled its Old Home Day 5K, removing a scheduled June 20 evening race from the town’s summer lineup just as residents were preparing for Old Home Day season. The recreation page says the 2026 run was canceled due to unforeseen circumstances and that the town is looking forward to 2027.

The race had been set for 5:00 p.m. at Grantham Recreation Park, 19 Shedd Rd., and the town’s online calendar now lists it as canceled. That same calendar update also kept other civic business in view, including the Trustees of the Trust Fund work session on June 18 at 3:30 p.m. and the Trustees of the Trust Funds meeting at 4:30 p.m., showing how Grantham uses its calendar to track both public meetings and community events.

The cancellation lands in a season when the town had already been asking for help. A separate volunteer notice sought support for the Old Home Day 5K, the Community Dinner and Old Home Day, and also pointed residents toward sponsorships if they could not volunteer. The 5K itself was being promoted as a professionally timed race with top finisher awards, an awards ceremony at about 6:00 p.m., live music and food at the finish. Last year’s event was labeled the 1st Annual Old Home Day 5K, and 2026 listings had called the canceled race the 2nd Annual, signaling that town organizers were trying to build it into a recurring fixture.

The loss of the race matters because it had already drawn local runners. Results from the 2025 event included multiple Grantham residents, giving the race a homegrown base before this year’s cancellation. Old Home Day itself remains on the calendar for Saturday, June 27, 2026, at 10:30 a.m., so the cancelation affects one piece of the town’s observance rather than the whole celebration.

That broader observance sits within a long New Hampshire tradition. Old Home Days trace back to Governor Frank Rollins in 1899, when the idea was to invite former residents back home and strengthen rural community ties. In Grantham, the canceled 5K leaves one less draw, but the town’s main Old Home Day gathering is still set to go forward.