GumShoe 5K Walk

About the Gumshoe

The Gumshoe took its first steps (quit groaning!) on a September weekend in 2006, drawing approximately 200 amateur sleuths to PhinneyWood. Feedback from the first event was very positive, but participants pointed out that had it rained (difficult to imagine in Seattle), they probably wouldn't have done the walk. So the Gumshoe moved to early August and expanded its run to ten days to maximize the potential for good perambulating weather.

The next year, 300 people did the Gumshoe and the number of participants has grown every year since. In 2011, more than 500 gumshoes (averaging two per entry form) raised almost $4,800 for the Greenwood Senior Center, Greenwood Food Bank and Greenwood Elementary School PTA (each non-profit received a third of the proceeds).

Though the Gumshoe is about FUNdraising (yes, FUN is a big part of it), it's also about connecting people to the neighborhood (it's amazing what you discover when you walk and pay attention) and building community (a whole lot of businesses and people make the event happen each year).

Special Thanks

Thanks to everyone who buys an entry form and does the Gumshoe and SPECIAL THANKS to:

SIX MAJOR SPONSORS:
FRED MEYER, WOODLAND PARK ZOO,
RED MILL BURGERS, BOEING EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION,
BLEACHERS PUB & MV HOME INSPECTION

for underwriting the event

MAE'S CAFE & WOODLAND PARK ZOO

for putting together the breakfast and day at the zoo prize

NINE LOCAL RESTAURANTS (42 since 2008)

for donating gift certificates to the Eatsy Street Game

24 LOCAL BUSINESSES

for sponsoring MiniGumshoe Contests
and offering their PhinneyWoopon discounts and deals

KEN'S MARKET, PHINNEY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION,
STARBUCKS & COUTH BUZZARD BOOKS-ESPRESSO BUONO CAFE

for selling the Gumshoe entry forms

PHINNEY NEIGHBOROHOOD ASSOCIATION

for laundering the money and keeping the books

CATH CARINE

for laying out the entry form

JAMES McFARLANE

for designing the promotional materials

SHELLEY GOULDING

for writing and editing copy

PETE STUART

for creating this web site

JANICE RICHARDSON & DIANE BURNETT

for test driving the walk

KELLY WALKER

for test driving the walk and plotting GPS coordinates

ZULMA-LIN GARCIA

for helping with the Facebook stuff

JUDY MIRANTE

for doing so darn much of the grunt work

CECILY KAPLAN, PATTY LEACH, SYDNEY PAWLAK,
JESSYCA POOLE, MARCY HARRINGTON, HEATHER SHILLING,
ASSORTED OTHER VOLUNTEERS & CONSCRIPTED KIDS

for securing prizes, hanging posters, handing out bookmarks
and marching in the Greenwood Seafair Parade

Feedback

Questions? Positive comments? Email Mike Veitenhans, aka the Gumshoe Answer Man. Complaints? Email Judy. (Okay, okay. Email complaints to Mike, too.)