On April 7, Leon County presented a $10,000 check to Leon County Schools at Montford Middle School, investing Fun Run proceeds from the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in student-athletes across the county.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is about turning a world-class event into real, lasting impact for our students,\u201d said County Commission Chairman Christian Caban. \u201cBy reinvesting a portion of the World Athletics Fun Run proceeds into our schools, we are strengthening athletic programs and creating more opportunities for young people across Leon County to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships drew more than 15,000 people, including nearly 11,000 visitors from outside the county and around the world, and generated more than $6 million in total economic impact for the local economy \u2014 exceeding early projections by more than 50 percent when accounting for the full ripple effect of visitor spending.<\/p>\n
The funds will go towards supporting the school district\u2019s cross-country and track and field teams, enabling more opportunities for the students to excel in these sports. This investment fulfills Leon County\u2019s pledge to dedicate a portion of proceeds from the international championship event to benefit local athletics, ensuring a lasting community impact beyond race day.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeon County\u2019s Apalachee Regional Park was built on a long-term vision of transforming a former landfill into a world-class venue that put our County on the global stage for cross country,\u201d said Leon County Administrator Vincent S. Long. \u201cDirecting these proceeds to student-athletes is how we make sure the benefits of that investment reach every corner of our community, not just on race day but for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
This effort is part of a broader strategic initiative in partnership with World Athletics to introduce, grow, and sustain the sport of cross country to the next generation of athletes. Leon County Schools will determine how the funding is distributed among its cross-country and track and field programs districtwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are grateful for this investment in our student-athletes and athletic programs,\u201d said LCS Superintendent Rocky Hanna. \u201cSupport like this helps us provide valuable opportunities for students to build discipline, teamwork, and confidence through sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
The check presentation took place in the Montford Middle School gymnasium, where Leon County and Leon County Schools officials were joined by the Montford Middle School boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 cross country teams, both reigning district champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our students, this support shows them that their community believes in them,\u201d said Montford Middle School Boys and Girls Cross Country Coach Brad Busboom. \u201cThis investment will have a direct impact on our ability to grow the sport and support young runners at every level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On April 7, Leon County presented a $10,000 check to Leon County Schools at Montford Middle School, investing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-223038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}