New Baltimore-area runner Shawn Lane is back this year for Casey Cares 5K at the Maryland Zoo on August 5th!

Shawn participated in the Casey Cares 5K last year because he was new to Baltimore and says that he "wanted to find a new running community."

From there, he found that "the best way to do that was to find a race and the Casey Cares 5K was the next one. I met some great people and had a lot of fun!"

At first, Shawn began running to stay healthy and ran on the treadmill in the gym to warm up before his workouts.

"This went on for a couple of months until a close friend of mine asked me to run a race with her. I did not know it was going to be a half marathon. It was my first ever run of that distance and after finishing I was hooked," he states.

For Shawn, the best part about running is "that it gives time to detox my mind and body from things that may have been stressful from that day or week. Running has been my free therapy." He also likes how you can see "how far your body can take you" when running. 

Shawn continues, "Running has allowed me to travel to other cities and visit places that I never thought about ever going to."

Shawn is also all about listening to music while he runs or "without my mini Noxgear Bluetooth speaker. Everyone should have one," he says.

None of Casey Cares' programs would be possible without the support from people like Shawn. Our 5K is one of our biggest fundraisers and we are so appreciative of our runners support! Bring your family and friends to run or walk in our 5K - register today!