Sold-out superhero run at Gateway Park raises funds for Yuma museum

A sold-out crowd of families and costumed runners filled Gateway Park on Saturday for the Children’s Museum of Yuma County’s first Superhero 5K and Fun Run, turning a novelty race into a fundraising test for one of downtown Yuma’s newer civic institutions. The museum’s event listing set the 5K for 8 a.m. and the Fun Run for 9:30 a.m., with “SUPERHERO SURPRISES” promised for participants. Prices listed for the race were $40 for the 5K and $20 for the Fun Run.

For the museum, the event mattered because the institution itself is still proving out its place in Yuma’s cultural economy. The Children’s Museum of Yuma County opened on April 21, 2023, after years of planning and fundraising, at 200 Main Street in downtown Yuma, and its mission has been to give local children a place of their own to play and learn. Sabra Lemmon, a Yuma native, was named executive director in September 2023.

The museum’s growth has already depended on community-backed expansion. In May 2025, the Fort Yuma Rotary Club said it had raised nearly $100,000 for an indoor air-conditioned play space, a project aimed at giving families somewhere to go when Yuma’s triple-digit heat makes outdoor play impractical. The museum has also extended Wednesday summer hours to help families cope with the heat, reinforcing how closely its operating model is tied to seasonal demand and local philanthropy. That makes the superhero run less like a one-off family event and more like a repeatable revenue idea: a downtown race, a recognizable cause, and a venue that already draws festival crowds.

Gateway Park has the location advantage organizers want. The City of Yuma describes it as part of a downtown park system built for community use, and Yuma already has an active calendar of charity runs, including recent local 5Ks tied to childhood cancer and other causes. If the museum can keep turning that habit into registrations, Gateway Park could become a dependable fundraising stop, not just a scenic backdrop.