Volunteer-run Lost Dutchman Marathon nears $1M in donations to youth groups

By Richard Dyer
Mail | X: @RHDyer

Volunteers in organizations and school programs that helped at the 2025 Lost Dutchman Marathon were treated recently to a post-event banquet and received donations from funds raised from the race.

The marathon is an annual President’s Day weekend event featuring a scenic, rolling, point-to-point USATF-certified course from Gold Canyon to Apache Junction. Runners can use it as a Boston Marathon qualifier or choose from other race options, including a half marathon, 10K or 8K trail run.

Donations from proceeds at the 24th annual marathon included $21,000 earmarked for seven $3,000 scholarships for Apache Junction High School students.

Black and Gold Youth Football, one of the organizations receiving a donation at the recent event at The Paseo northeast of Apache Junction near the foot of the Superstition Mountains, had four board members, one coach, five youth football players and three cheerleaders at the Feb. 16 marathon.

“We were the second station at the marathon with water and Gatorade, picking up trash. We were on mile marker No. 4,” said Stephanie Earles, secretary of Black and Gold Youth Football.

The $1,000 donated this year to Black and Gold Youth Football will be used for costs such as field fees, she said.

“It goes for the season. It goes for field play, uniforms and equipment for the kids,” Earles said.

A total of 26 organizations received checks at the April 16 banquet. The total was the most donated since the Lost Dutchman Marathon was established in 2002, said Gary Nine, co-founder and ex-officio marathon official.

“This year Lost Dutchman Marathon is handing out $80,000 in money. In the last 24 years, $980,000,” he said.

“Yes, we’ve almost hit the $1 million mark,” Lost Dutchman Marathon Race Director Kristie Falb said. “We’ve had, obviously, a very successful year. It has grown. COVID had a big downturn to everything, but we’ve been able to rebound that.”

In 2003, the first year funds were donated, a total of $5,250 was given to charities. The highest amount donated previously was $70,000 in 2019, it states at https://lostdutchmanmarathon.org/Beneficiaries.

Run by an all-volunteer board of directors and officers, Lost Dutchman Marathon Inc. is a charity that organizes the event with annual proceeds directed to local youth organizations focused on the economically disadvantaged. The donations were generated through proceeds of this year’s races, which welcomed nearly 2,900 participants from across the nation and globe, according to a release.

While having the Superstition Mountains as a backdrop doesn’t hurt, the primary reason runners like the Lost Dutchman Marathon is because it is volunteer-run, Falb said.

“We have had other races come up against us. There’s a Mesa marathon, then the rock-and-roll (marathon) and all of that stuff. Even despite all of that, we’ve been able to continually grow,” she said. “I would say the mountain is a draw but that has nothing to do with runners who come out to be a part of it. We have so much positive feedback from runners who come out here and love, No. 1, that we’re a 501(c)(3) so that all of us who are on the board and everything are full volunteers ... and all of the money that we raise goes right back to the community.”

While some organizations have helped for years, volunteers are always needed, Falb said.

“We add some every year, some leave — it depends on the group. We’ve had a Girl Scout group here for 17 years volunteering with us,” she said. “We have the youth that come out and I think people appreciate that running our race and seeing a lot of the youth that are supported by their adults and that people in charge of them are helping make it a success so it makes people feel even better about coming out.”

Early beginnings

The marathon’s concept started as a kernel of an idea when two Apache Junction residents met over beers at a local establishment, but it couldn’t have succeeded without the support of four organizations that have helped since the beginning. They are the city of Apache Junction, Apache Junction Unified School District, Superstition Fire and Medical District, and Pinal County, Nine said during the banquet.

Nine recalled how he and Martin Loftus, both runners, talked about how there were few nearby marathons or races they could go to and surmised one could be held in Apache Junction.

“He said “I’ve got to go all the way to Glendale to get a good run in’ and I said ‘Let’s start a race here’ ... and we talked about it,” Nine said.

Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.