Ironstone Derby 5K & Kentucky Derby Party at horse farm May 4

Spend Kentucky Derby day partying at an Andover horse farm – and know that your good time will help change the lives of special people in your community.

Ironstone Farm is hosting the Ironstone Derby 5K & Kentucky Derby Party, complete with a USATF-certified 5K walk/run, optional Texas Roadhouse barbecue food, derby-hat contest, kids stick-horse fun run, music, games and a horse-and-rider performance

Mint juleps, beer and other drinks are expected to be available for purchase. It’s a great time for all ages, to raise money for the nonprofit programs at Ironstone Farm, 450 Lowell St. (Route 133) in Andover, supporting kids with special needs, veterans and others.

There will be different length stick-horse fun runs for kids 10 and younger. Decorate your own stickhorse, then take it home. The kids fun run comes with a free hotdog meal.

While runners and walkers can take on the 5K race, everyone is welcome. Many people come each year just for the party.Come for the race, come for the fun, or do both at https://register.chronotrack.com/r/45748. The options are:

• $30 for 5K race/walk, including shirt and all the fun of the party: games, horse-and-rider drill team performance, derrby-hat contest, bouncy horse races, cornhole, music, and a live showing of the 2019 Kentucky Derby
• $20 for youth 5K entry with shirt, games and other party components
• $20 for Texas Roadhouse barbecue and party only: add a dinner, or come just for the dinner and party. You get Texas Roadhouse ribs and chicken, two sides, salad and bread; plus all the fun of the party
• $15 for stick-horse race (10 and younger), hot dog and party access
• $5 for a kids hotdog meal only, plus party access

NOTE: The above prices are good through the end of March.

With its two indoor riding areas and 19 acres, Ironstone Farm is open 12 months a year, six days a week, serving about 450 clients each week thanks to the help of about 200 weekly volunteers. On many Sundays, it offers special events, including free programs for veterans, people diagnosed with cancer, children with special needs seeking adoption and others. Ironstone also has a recreational riding program and summer horseback-riding and nature camps.

To register for the Ironstone Derby 5K raceor kids stick-horse fun run, or to buy a food-and-fun pass to the post-race entertainment, visit https://register.chronotrack.com/r/45748. Parking for the race will be down Route 133, with shuttle buses running continuously. For information about Ironstone Farm and its programs visit www.ironstonefarm.org or email programs@challengeunlimited.org.

About Ironstone Farm

Ironstone Farm is home to two nonprofit programs that benefit children with special needs, veterans who have experienced trauma, people diagnosed with cancer and others. More than 200 people volunteer their time each week to help keep Ironstone Farm’s nonprofit programs running strong. [Ironstone Farm also offers recreational riding and summer riding and nature camps.] Clients come from more than 90 communities in Greater Boston, the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire. Top doctors and major medical institutions refer clients to Ironstone Farm because of its successful programs and reputation.

RACE DAY INFO

Food

People can come to run the 5K, come for the food and party, or do it all!

The optional Texas Roadhouse dinner includes the restaurant’s famous ribs, barbecue chicken, two sides, salad and bread and cinnamon butter.

A kids meal is included with the kids stickhorse fun run and includes a hotdog and sides, drink and dessert. The kids meal can be purchased separately from the fun run for $5.

There will also be a cash bar with mint juleps, beer and other drinks, plus souvenier Ironstone Derby pint glasses.

Games and Entertainment

The event offers many games and entertainment free to all runners and walkers, or to those who buy a Texas Roadhouse food-and party pass. The Golden Aces Drill Team will perform an exciting horse-and-rider performance set to music. There will be live music, inflatable bouncy horses that four people can race against each other at once, a derby-hat competition, and a live showing of the Kentucky Derby on screen. Buy a ticket in the 50/50 raffle, choose a horse and if your ticket is selected you will win half of the pot.

Offsite Parking (Free Shuttle)

Offsite parking and a free shuttle will be available on race day at Thermo Fisher Scientific, in the Ames Pond Corporate Park, 2 Radcliff Road, Tewksbury (next to McDonald's). Thermo Fisher is about 1 mile past the farm off Route 133 (Lowell Street) heading west toward Lowell. Parking is not available at Ironstone Farm for the race with the exception of those with designated handicapped parking passes. Because the event draws hundreds of people, we do not have the necessary parking at our farm. IF YOU NEED A HANDICAPPED PARKING PASS, PLEASE CONTACT IRONSTONE FARM IN ADVANCE OF RACE DAY at neilfater@challengeunlimited.org

Two shuttle buses, running continuously, will take people from the farm to the parking lot a short distance away.

Buses will begin running by 3 p.m. and continue running until at least 6:45 p.m.