March 21, 2026
The annual Toloma 5K Run honors the long-standing tradition among Indigenous tribes of California of distance running as a means of communication and competition. Members of local tribes and the greater Merced community are invited to participate in a campus course that passes beneath the Beginnings sculpture, crosses Scholars Bridge, and runs by the Toloma Grove Native Acknowledgment and Reflection Area. Proceeds from the event support Native American student scholarships and related programming. To register and learn more, visit https://nativematters.ucmerced.edu/toloma-5k
