As the record-high snow season has receded, UMass Boston raises the curtain for the spring road-racing season by hosting the third annual Beacon Dash 5K/Run Sunday, April 3, regardless of weather.

Featuring a scenic ocean view of Boston Harbor, the race is open to runners, walkers, and wheelchair users from both within and without the UMass Boston community. Entry fee had been set at $17 by March 25, and is $20 through the race day. People under 18 are required to have their parents’ or guardians’ signatures.

Chris Fitzgerald, the race director, explained that the goal of the event is “To enhance the sense of campus community by having a social event that students, faculty, staff and alumni with similar interests can take part in and get excited about [promoting] health and physical fitness.” He added that the race is also “a means of promoting UMass Boston to the outside community by having the Boston Harbor be the highlight of the course.”

But the most important aspect of the race is that of a fundraiser for the UMass Boston Early Learning Center (ELC), which provides daycare for 61 children, from 15-month to six-year-old, of UMB students, staff, and faculty at Harbor Point.

Last year, the event raised $1600, 100 percent of which went to ELC. Fitzgerald said that this year again will be able to send all the money raised directly to the center, thanks in large part to support from Student Government, Department of Athletics, Public Safety, and Parking and Transportation.

The race date and the weather conditions have been the decisive factor in the number of participants since its maiden voyage in 2003, which enjoyed the biggest mix ever with 136 participants on the first Sunday in April. However, weather on the race day was “brisk and cold,” which prompted Fitzgerald to move the date to the first Sunday in May in 2004.

In exchange for milder weather, the calendarial change brought a conflict with other well-established races, such as the Walk for Hunger which on the same day attracted about 40,000 participants and raised three million dollars, according to a sponsor. With a number of registrants having plummeted to 80, Fitzgerald decided again to hold the race at the beginning of April to secure more participants. He expects 150 people to entry, almost twice as many as last year.

Participants will be supplied with showering facilities and light refreshments at the finish line, and race T-shirts for the first 200 participants. Kids can run at no cost for a multi-mile fun run.

For further information, contact Chris Fitzgerald, Race Director, at 617-287-6788 or e-mail: [email protected].