13th Annual Simon Says Run Returns Sept. 19 to Support Prostate Cancer Research

The 13th Annual Simon Says 5.8K Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer Awareness will take place Sept. 19 at 7:30 a.m., starting and finishing at the Flora-Bama Ole River Grill along the Alabama Gulf Coast. The race has become one of the area’s signature fall charity events, and this year’s edition returns to the same stretch of coastline that has hosted it since the beginning, blending a competitive road race, a community fundraiser, and a morning on the water’s edge into a single event.

The route sends runners west toward the Perdido Pass Bridge before looping back, an out-and-back layout that hugs the water, with views of the pass and the boats that move through it on a September Saturday morning. The 5.8K distance is deliberately close to a standard 5K, making the race accessible to first-time participants while still giving seasoned runners a genuine test.

Runners and walkers who cannot attend in person will also have the option to participate virtually, allowing supporters outside the area to take part in the event from wherever they are. The virtual option has broadened the event’s reach in recent years, letting former coast residents, distant family members, and others with a connection to the cause log their miles at home while still counting themselves among the participants.

Registration costs $30 through Sept. 17, with the price rising to $35 during packet pickup on Sept. 18-19. Organizers encourage early sign-up, both to lock in the lower rate and to help with planning for t-shirts, refreshments, and course support. Packet pickup in the days before the race also serves as a meet-and-greet point for volunteers and returning participants who make the event part of their annual routine.

Registered participants are invited to a post-race party featuring burgers and beer, along with chance drawings held after the race. The gathering at the Ole River Grill has become as much a part of the tradition as the run itself, giving participants a reason to linger, share stories, and hear about how the money raised will be used. The drawings add an extra layer of excitement for those who stay through the morning, and the party atmosphere keeps the focus on the community behind the cause.

Raising Money and Awareness for Prostate Cancer Research

The run is organized to raise awareness about prostate cancer and encourage participants to help protect the men in their lives, with proceeds benefiting the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), which organizers describe as the leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating prostate cancer research globally. The Foundation funds research into prevention, earlier detection, and better treatments, and it has played a central role in the progress made against the disease over recent decades.

Prostate cancer remains one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among American men, and it is a subject that hits close to home for many Gulf Coast families. Advocacy groups like the one behind Simon Says emphasize early screening conversations between men and their doctors, particularly for those with family histories of the disease. The race’s name itself is a play on the childhood game — a reminder that awareness starts with simple actions and that participants are, in effect, telling the men around them to get checked.

Since its first race in 2014, the Simon Says Run has raised well over $125,000 for the cause, including $11,500 last year alone. For a community event of its size, that total represents a remarkable accumulation of small contributions — registration fees, sponsor support, and donations gathered year after year by people who return each September.

Organizers say Simon Says is able to donate 100 percent of participant entry fees directly to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, meaning every dollar collected at registration goes toward supporting research rather than event overhead. That arrangement is unusual among charity races, where a significant share of entry fees commonly goes to cover permits, insurance, timing, and logistics. Sponsorships and volunteer labor behind the scenes allow Simon Says to route the full amount to research, and organizers point to that figure as a key part of the event’s appeal to donors who want their money to go straight to the cause.

A Longstanding Gulf Coast Tradition

Now in its 13th year, the Simon Says Run has become a fixture on the Alabama Gulf Coast’s fall calendar, drawing both competitive runners and casual walkers to the Flora-Bama area for a cause that touches many local families. The event sits at the intersection of two things the coast does well — road races and gatherings at the legendary Flora-Bama — and over more than a decade it has built a loyal following of participants who plan their September around it.

The race’s location along Perdido Pass gives participants scenic coastal views during the out-and-back course, while the post-race gathering offers a chance for the community to celebrate together and support ongoing research. The Flora-Bama Ole River Grill, sitting near the state line where Alabama meets Florida, provides a setting few road races can match: participants line up steps from the water, with the bridge over the pass framing the turn-around point of the course.

The 5.8K distance and the early 7:30 a.m. start reflect the practical realities of a Gulf Coast September. Temperatures climb quickly after sunrise, and experienced local runners know a morning start is the difference between a comfortable race and a grind. Early finishers will be cooling off with post-race burgers and drinks while walkers are still making their way along the course, and the field typically includes everyone from front-runners chasing a time to families pushing strollers.

Why the Cause Resonates Locally

Prostate cancer awareness events occupy a particular place in Gulf Coast communities, where many participants run in memory of fathers, husbands, brothers, and friends. Organizers have consistently framed the event not just as a fundraiser but as a prompt — an annual reminder for men to talk with their physicians about screening. The race’s growth over 13 years suggests that message has found an audience, with many participants returning annually and bringing new faces each time.

The connection to the Prostate Cancer Foundation gives local fundraising national reach. Money raised at the Ole River Grill joins a larger pool that funds research at institutions across the country, and organizers have long emphasized to participants that their local registration fee plugs directly into that broader effort. The foundation’s work spans the full arc of the disease, from understanding risk factors to developing new therapies for advanced cases.

For volunteers, the weeks before race day are the busiest of the year. Course setup, registration tables, water stops, and the post-race kitchen all depend on community members who take the morning off from their own schedules. The event’s longevity — 13 consecutive years — is a testament to that volunteer core as much as to the runners themselves.

Race Day Details

Participants on Sept. 19 should plan to arrive well before the 7:30 a.m. start to pick up packets, park, and warm up. Parking around the Flora-Bama complex fills quickly on race morning, and organizers typically urge carpooling. The course route toward the Perdido Pass Bridge remains open to local traffic in segments, and participants are asked to stay within the marked lanes for safety.

The virtual participation option means the event’s total impact extends well beyond the people physically on the course. Virtual participants pay registration, receive their packets, and complete their 5.8K wherever they are, with their fees flowing to the Prostate Cancer Foundation exactly as in-person entry fees do. For coast transplants and snowbirds with a September connection to the area, it has become a way to stay tied to a community tradition from a distance.

Chance drawings at the post-race party add to the fundraising total and give participants one more reason to stay through the morning. In past years the drawings have featured contributions from area businesses, and the announcements between drawings double as a venue for organizers to talk about the year’s fundraising total and where the money is headed.

With the price increase coming at packet pickup on Sept. 18-19, organizers’ advice is simple: register early, save five dollars, and help the race plan for its biggest field yet. Thirteen years in, Simon Says shows no signs of slowing down — and neither, its organizers hope, does the research it funds.

Each September, the gathering at the Ole River Grill doubles as a reunion. Participants who first came out in 2014 have watched the event grow from a modest fundraiser into an institution, and the post-race party is where those relationships get renewed. Organizers have leaned into that social element deliberately, on the theory that a race people enjoy is a race they return to — and that returning participants are the most reliable fundraisers a charity event can have.

The event’s all-volunteer overhead model makes that loyalty count double. Because sponsors and volunteers absorb the costs of permits, timing, refreshments, and course support, the money raised on race day does not get divided between the cause and the machinery of the event. Organizers describe the 100 percent pass-through of entry fees as the promise they make to every registrant, and it is the metric they point to when explaining why a $30 entry fee matters more here than at many larger races.

For the Prostate Cancer Foundation, community events like Simon Says feed a research pipeline that operates on the scale of millions of dollars, but the Foundation’s outreach has long emphasized that large gifts are built from many small ones. A coast fundraiser that clears five figures in a morning — as last year’s $11,500 did — represents hundreds of individual decisions to show up, sign a registration form, and run for the men in their lives.

As Sept. 19 approaches, the race’s organizers are finalizing course logistics, volunteer assignments, and the packet pickup schedule for Sept. 18-19. The one constant year to year is the setting: a September morning on the Alabama Gulf Coast, a field of runners and walkers heading west toward the Perdido Pass Bridge, and a community that has turned an annual race into thirteen years of support for prostate cancer research.