The purpose of Friends of Beat the Heat is to fund the prize purse for the elite races at Beat the Heat.  The hope is that through this fund raising effort, we are able to fully support and ideally grow the elite race prize purse without taking away from funds to support other race expenses and charity donations.

Since 2008, Beat the Heat has hosted NC 5K Championship races and paid out prize money to attract a strong field of elite runners.  The prize purse has grown to as much as $5000 a year not including time incentives and bonuses. In 2016, Beat the Heat added charity partners to the event.  Since that time, Beat the Heat has been able to sustain elite runner prize money while growing charity donations to more than $10,000 a year.  We've been able to this thanks to the generosity of race sponsors and participants.