The Night Watch Charity Run

05/29/2026

Great News! The Night Watch Charity Run has officially surpassed our 2025 donation total of $13,57, with a new Night Watch best ever, $13,660! These contributions came from 90 different generous donors! Thank you to everyone who has participated, shared, or donated to the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital! You all help make this possible!

The link for donations will remain open until June 1st!
https://goldrush.uiowa.edu/the-night-watch-charity-run-2026/?a=1

05/25/2026

The weekend of The Night Watch Charity Run 2026 isn't quite over, and thanks to the incredible generosity of so many, we have hit our initiatial goal for this year!

That said, the link is open until June 1st, and we still want to make as much of an impact as we can! The highest donation total Night Watch has ever raised in a single year for the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital is $13,500 last year. Can we beat that this year?

https://goldrush.uiowa.edu/the-night-watch-charity-run-2026/?a=1

05/23/2026

We have once again successfully kept the Watch. The 2026 Night Watch has come to a close. There is always such amazing energy during this event. From the early hours when there is large groups, running, chatting, and connecting, to the quiet hours in the middle, to the final bursts that happens once the Watchers see the sky getting brighter. At all hours, everyone on the loop is connected by the mission of supporting the kids and families in the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital.

This year's Night Watch saw eight folks pull the Full Night Watch, with one of them being a first time Night Watcher. Four of those eight Night Watchers ran at least 50 miles around Kinnick Stadium during the night. So many incredible performances!

Running far, fast, or staying up all night is great, but it is secondary to our primary mission: The Kids! At the time of this post we have raised $11,067, with those donations from 68 donors, from 11 different states! All of this coming from a bunch of amazing people running loops around Kinnick Stadium!

The donation link will be open for another week! Let's push to hit our donation goals!
https://goldrush.uiowa.edu/the-night-watch-charity-run-2026/?a=1

05/22/2026

The Night Watch shift is nearing. In less than 24 hours we will begin this year's watch over the kids in the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital. The first Watch started the night of my son's Bone Marrow Transplant, exactly 6 years ago tonight. A close friend trying to find a way to support Charlie, decided to grab all of his brightest gear, so kids all the way on the top floor could see him, and start running around Kinnick Stadium. He posted a video about what he was doing, and dozens of runners joined him through the night, keeping Watch until sunrise.

Charlie has fully recovered, and the transplant was a success! The experience of what it is like for the kids, and the families that are living in the hospital, fighting the hardest battles any of them had ever fought, sticks with us to this day.

We continue the annual Watch, in hopes that we can offer support, or even a momentary distraction for those sleepless nights that hospital life can offer. Every year we are asked if we alert the kids or families of our mission. Our response? No. If those kids can find rest among the beeps, vital checks, and just dealing with not being in their own beds, we prefer that. If a mom isn't sleeping, or a kid wakes up in the night, they look down and see a bunch of brightly lit weirdos running around the stadium, and that takes their mind off of the stress, and the situation, we will take that too.

Whether you plan on running/walking a lap, a mile, running all night, or just bringing energy to get the Watchers through the night, remember to take a moment to look up at those windows, give a wave, and remember why we do this!

Now let's get one last night of sleep before The Night Watch Charity Run 2026!

Donation Link
https://www.givecampus.com/schools/universityofiowa/the-night-watch-charity-run-2026?fbclid=iwb21leAR8k3hvbWV5qu7J7mNuCetuDuKuC_h2Dh3LC-1qN7FqGfJ2CaDLFvDHaWR12bWZ3Lie27Oa1zKhppuGWTC92GvmFuaV6jOXR5uR7Ox25ryePy3KThrOfHaB1qrmCSW3GS3qKKGambw_aem_bsc8stp5hhrcqe19kjkfbg&utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e230_tv2_tp1_a1demo01in9msw

05/18/2026

The Night Watch Charity Run 2026 Event details!

When: The 7th Annual Night Watch Charity Run kicks off this Friday night, at 8:26PM (Sunset), and will go until 5:39AM(Sunrise) Saturday morning.

We encourage everyone that intends to be there for the start, to show up at least 15-20 minutes early. We will have a few announcements and group photo at 8:16PM.

As a sidenote, there will be folks running all night, part of the night, or showing up in the early hours of Saturday morning. If you are available for those quiet early Saturday hours (12-3am) that provides a huge boost of energy for the full Night Watchers!

Parking: There will be plenty of parking available in the South lot of Kinnick Stadium. This is also the closest parking to where "Home Base," or the community aid station will be set up.

Bathrooms: We have authorization to utilize the facilities at the Courtyard by Marriott. This is across the street from the South lot. Please be respectful and don't leave a mess! We want to continue having this privilege for future events!

What to bring: First off, your selves! Beyond that, every year there is community food and drink brought by everyone participating, but if there is something you specifically want for food or beverage, please bring it! If it is not meant for the community, try to keep that separate from the main table.

Also, we encourage you to bring bright clothes, glo sticks, light up vests, or anything that would look cool for kids or families watching from the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital through the night!

Route: The route is a .46 mile loop around Kinnick Stadium. This does not include any road or train crossings, so if you find yourself doing this, you might be lost. There is still light traffic , so be mindful when running off curb, and try to stay on sidewalk instead of roads. Safety is the top priority!

Donation info: Finally, this is what we do this all for! To raise money for the kiddos in the Children's Hospital! We encourage participants to match their milage in dollars, or if you cannot make it to the event, sponsor a runner/walker/biker by doing the same! 100% of these generous donations go to the University of Iowa Children's Hospital!

Donation link:
https://goldrush.uiowa.edu/the-night-watch-charity-run-2026/?a=1

Thank you to everyone that plans on showing up to run, walk, bike, or just hang out, as well as the folks that support us remotely!

05/16/2026

One week from tonight, many will begin looping around Kinnick Stadium. Some will run for a few loops. Some will run for a few hours. Some will stay all night long. We love everyone that shows up and brings energy and support to this event, as well as to the kiddos and families in the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital. Those that stay from sunset to sunrise will join a select group of folks that have pulled the full Night Watch!

We do appreciate people that show up and give bursts of energy through the night! Midnight to 2:00am can be lonely hours!

Finally, whether you are able to attend or not, we appreciate your support! Many who cannot make it in person, will sponsor a runner, and donate an amount per loop of their sponsored runner! Any donation appreciated!
https://goldrush.uiowa.edu/the-night-watch-charity-run-2026/?a=1

05/12/2026

Friend of the Night Watch Rik Zortman aka the Human Etch a Sketch, is getting prepared for The Night Watch Charity Run in the best way he knows how: by running the name and date of our event, like he has run the names of so many children that are fighting battles against Cancer and other health obstacles all over the country for the better part of the last two decades.

Rik has a very personal connection to the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital. He's a good man to chat with on some loops around Kinnick, and hear about his journey!

Also! We are making big moves! We are a week and a half away from this year's event, and we are 42% of the way to our goal thanks to some very generous donations! Let's keep this train rolling!
https://goldrush.uiowa.edu/the-night-watch-charity-run-2026/?a=1

05/11/2026

We are less than two weeks away from The Night Watch Charity Run 2026!
Great news! Our contact Josh Berka has secured permission from Courtyard by Marriott to use their restrooms through the night! While the actual toilets may not be golden, compared to the empty train station and lilac bushes of the early years, they might as well be!

Night Watch Donation Link:
https://www.givecampus.com/schools/UniversityofIowa/the-night-watch-charity-run-2026?fbclid=Iwb21leARuyE5jbGNrBG7IRGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHlKWVDHr5hbMLeOZL0EbKEzSduA8NJ8tyK4AZNX2Gdaq5gkLTXkt6iIHMPm8_aem_bSC8STp5HHrCqE19kjkFbg&utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e230_tv2_tp1_a1demo01in9msw

04/20/2026

The donation link for this year's Night Watch Charity Run is now live! We have some big goals for this year's event, as well as some 5 year goals we are committing to for the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital. Come run, walk, or move forward utilizing your method of choice!

Each year many of our Night Watchers commit to donating an amount equal to their milage, but we also have people that sponsor other runners mileage, or just donate because they believe in the cause. It all goes to the kids and families in the Children's Hospital!

Join me and make a gift to GOLDrush

07/02/2025

One of the fun traditions that we started a few years back when presenting the giant check, is this check run. An appropriate finish for a donation from a night of running. This year Charlie joined us for the run!
Thanks again for a great year everyone!

07/01/2025

The final item to check off on The Night Watch Charity Run every year, is presenting the check to the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital. We are always honored to physically present the check, because we understand that we are representing the generosity of so many people that support this event, and our cause.

This year's total of $13,571 was the highest single year donation total since the Night Watch began, and brought the total donation amount since we gained the ability to track donations to $42,831! Additionally, we discussed our goals with the University of Iowa outreach team, and we are committing to raising at least $50,000 over the next 4 years! We hope that everyone will continue to support this event, journey, and cause!

We are truly humbled and honored to have the privilege to represent all of you, and be able to present this donation to the Children's Hospital. Thank you!