University of Minnesota Crookston students will be hosting Regal’s Run, a 5K fundraiser at the University of Minnesota Crookston campus on Saturday, April 26 at 10:30 a.m.
Zak Garad and Bailey Schaefer, as well as their Project Management Class Instructor, Megan Pederson, stopped by to talk about the 5K, why they have organized it, and how the community can get involved. “We are hosting a 5K walk and run, it’s called Regal’s Run,” says Schaefer. “This is in an effort to get the Camden and Maxwell Dean Memorial Scholarship endowed. We need $25,000 raised to get it endowed; we are at about $21,000 right now.” Raising enough money to get this scholarship endowed has been a project a few years in the making. “It’s for Camden and Maxwell Dean. They passed away on March 25, 2018, after a ground blizzard hit and they were struck by a semi,” says Schaefer. “It was a pretty tragic car accident that they were involved in.” Camden and Maxwell Dean were the nine-year-old and 18-month-old sons of UMC alumni Trista and Bryan Dean, who were both tragically killed in the accident.
Hopefully, the weather will be beautiful for the 5K as there is a lot planned for the event. “There will be an adult run, which will be a 5K. It’s going to start in Parking Lot A on campus, and it will go to the Northeast side, right over the train tracks; they are going to cut across over by the Crookston Sports Center, and it will head down Fisher Avenue, and then we are going to cut across back towards campus and end by Parking Lot E by the track,” says Schaefer. “That will take place at 10:30 a.m., and then there will be a Kids Run following at 11:30 a.m. in the Wellness Center, where the kids will run on the track for a half mile. If they want to run more they are more than welcome to, we are not going to stop them.” Maybe you can’t make it out to the University of Minnesota Crookston on April 26 for the 5K. There is another option for participating. “There also will be a virtual run where runners can sign up, and you track your times and route on your own,” says Schaefer. “You will send it in via RaceRoster, which is what we are doing our registration through. Runners can do this at any time from now until April 26.”
Setting up the 5K has been a lot of work, and the students are very excited to see how it goes as they hope to not only get the Camden and Maxwell Dean Memorial Scholarship endowed but also finish the class project with high marks. “This project is for our Project Management Class, and it covers a requirement for my Software Engineering Major, it’s a requirement for me to graduate,” says Garad. “To dive into more details, it teaches us how to handle things and plan it out and execute it.” The more participants, the better, as the money raised is coming from the entrance fee for each participant as well as some donations that have been coming in. The entrance fee is $34 for adults and $12 for kids. The class is still looking for sponsors for the event. “We are looking for sponsors for the project. We currently have three different tiers of sponsorship, but we would be happy to accept any donation amount,” says Instructor Pederson. “In addition to swag or potential giveaway items, if somebody would rather do that. Anyone who is interested can contact me, Megan Pederson, at 218-280-8504. I will then put a student in touch with those interested as this is a student-led project, and they are doing the vast majority of the work for this.”
Student-led projects like this can be very rewarding for the students and for their educators. This project is not only student-led, where they get good hands-on experience, but also helps the Dean family heal wounds by keeping their boys’ memories alive. “Trista and Bryan, the parents of Camden and Maxwell, have done a tremendous job trying to make sure the legacy of the boys lives on,” says Pederson. “They have done that through creating a foundation, and they have done a number of drives through that foundation, including numerous toy drives and trying to make a difference and impact in the lives of other people in the names of Camden and Maxwell. They have been incredibly successful in that realm, but something that I think is important that I think maybe doesn’t get publicized enough is Camden, in particular; he was nine when he passed away, and Trista talks a lot about how he had such a tremendous servant heart. Instead of getting a gift himself, he would be more excited to give something to someone else.”
Pederson says that is the essence of this scholarship. It’s meant to ensure people knew the boy’s hearts and how kind they were. “The efforts that have gone on to make sure there is a lasting impact,” says Pederson. “They can’t make themselves anymore, but the rest of us can do things in their honor and hopefully make the world a little bit of a better place and also kind of give a little bit of a long-distance hug to Trista and Bryan who, of course, mourn this loss every day.”
Regal’s Run 5K is on Saturday, April 26, starting at 10:30 a.m. Registration will take place in Parking Lot A before the race. If you have any questions, call Megan Pederson at 218-280-8504, and she will get you in touch with a student. You can also check out the Regal’s Run Facebook page for up-to-date information on the event. The Project Management class would like to thank American Crystal Sugar for its Gold Tier sponsorship, STAI Fencing for its sponsorship, and The Community Voice App for its sponsorship.
The registration site is raceroster.com/events/2025/102841/regals-run. Entry fees are $34+ (including taxes and fees) for the Regal’s Run and virtual 5K, and $12+ for the Children’s Fun Run.
You can also make a tax-deductible donation directly to the scholarship by visiting this website. crowdfund.umn.edu/campaign/Dean-Scholarship.
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