Calling all volunteers! Aviation Museum of NH seeks help with May 6 community road race

LONDONDERRY, NH —If you’d like to get outside this spring and help a good cause, here’s your chance.

The Aviation Museum of N.H. is seeking volunteers to help with its upcoming ‘Run the Rail Trail 5-Miler,’ a run/walk event set for Saturday, May 6.

Extra help will be needed to augment the non-profit museum’s existing volunteer corps. People are needed to park cars, monitor the course, operate a water station, and more.

The walk/run event, which starts at 9 a.m., is a fund-raiser for the Aviation Museum’s youth education programs.

“It’s a great chance for people to get outside, meet some new people, and help a good cause,” said Leah Dearborn, the Aviation Museum’s assistant director.

The race will start and finish at the Aviation Museum’s historic 1937 terminal building at 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, adjacent to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

The route consists of a 5-mile course that winds through lightly trafficked roads of North Londonderry, including a nearly mile-long section of off-road footpath through undeveloped land.

The course will finish along the recently opened 1.2-mile section of the Londonderry Rail Trail, which passes through the remote Little Cohas Brook Reservoir area.

Race day volunteers will be expected to be involved with the event on Saturday, May 6 from 7:30 to 11 a.m.

In addition to the race itself, volunteers are asked to attend one of two one-hour orientation sessions scheduled during April at the Aviation Museum.

Orientations are scheduled for Wednesday, April 19 at 7 p.m. and again on Monday, April 24 at 7 p.m.

“Attending one of these sessions will enable us to familiarize you with the course and how race day will work,” Dearborn said.

To reserve a place at one of the open houses, please contact Leah Dearborn at (603) 669-4877 or by e-mail at ldearborn@nhahs.org.

Also, all volunteers are expected to attend an all-hands meeting on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum.

All volunteers will be required to sign a liability waiver.

All race proceeds will benefit the Aviation Museum of N.H., a non-profit with a mission to preserve aviation history, and inspire today’s youth to become tomorrow’s aerospace pioneers.

Race sponsors include Wire Belt Co., Pro Star Aviation, Northeast Delta Dental, Summit Packaging Systems, Allegro Microsytems, TCI, and Signature Flight Services.

In-kind sponsors are the Midfield Cafe of Nashua and Stonyfield Organic.

To sign up as a runner or walker in the Run the Rail Trail 5-Miler, visit www.runsignup.com and search for “Aviation Museum of N.H.” under ‘Find a Race.’

Because of the mile-long section of unimproved off-road trail, the course is not recommended for strollers. Pets prohibited from participating.

Registration is $30 per person; $25 for those 12 and under and 62 and above through Thursday, May 4, when online registration closes. The first 100 registrants receive a race shirt.

Race day registration will be available at the Aviation Museum for $35 per entry.

To volunteer for the ‘Run the Rail Trail 5-Miler’ please contact assistant director Leah Dearborn at (603) 669-4877 or at ldearborn@nhahs.org.

The Aviation Museum, a non-profit 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization based in the 1937 art deco passenger terminal at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, is dedicated to preserving the Granite State’s rich aviation past, and also inspiring today’s students to become the aviation pioneers of tomorrow.

Named “Best Place to Take Kids” in southern New Hampshire in the 2023 HippoPress Readers Poll, the Aviation Museum of N.H. was recently awarded the prestigious ‘Non-Profit Impact Award’ by the Center for N.H. Non-Profits.

The Aviation Museum is located at 27 Navigator Road, off Harvey Road, in Londonderry, N.H.

For more information, visit www.aviationmuseumofnh.org or call (603) 669-4877. Follow the Aviation Museum on social media at www.facebook.com/nhahs.