A Note from the DRS: COAST Father's Day Race Goes Virtual

Hello Dover Race Series participants! We have received a number of questions regarding the upcoming Father's Day 5k. We wanted to share an update with our race series community.

For 2026, the Father's Day 5k will move forward as a virtual race. In its new format, the race is still counted as a regular part of the 2026 Dover Race Series. As with all other races, DRS season pass holders gain automatic registration to the race and all other race series participants are encouraged to register for the race and have some fun running in our community! The Virtual Father’s Day 5K supports COAST’s mission of providing affordable, reliable public transportation services throughout the region. Proceeds from the event will help sustain transportation access for individuals and families who rely on COAST to connect to employment, healthcare, education, shopping, and other essential community services. “Community support helps ensure our neighbors continue to have access to the opportunities and resources they need to thrive,” organizers said. “This event is a fun and flexible way for people to celebrate Father’s Day weekend while supporting a vital local nonprofit.”

For participants pursuing the Dover Race Series finisher jacket, this event WILL count toward the seven-race requirement for jacket qualification. What this means is that ALL registered participants will automatically get credit for the race. We recognize that many runners have planned their race schedules around reaching that milestone and we want to ensure this change does not impact those efforts.

For the overall Dover Race Series standings, this race will NOT be counted toward the standings. We want to ensure that the series results are based on fair, equal race efforts and timing accuracy. To ensure consistency of the results, we have made the decision not to count the race in the overall standings. Standings calculations will continue to be tallied at the next scheduled series race. However, we encourage all participants to run the virtual race and submit your results for the race’s individual leaderboard! And you can purchase a t-shirt on the Race Roster event page until June 5!

Further details and race logistics will be provided by the COAST Father’s Day 5k race organizers. We appreciate COAST's commitment to preserving this long-standing event and look forward to seeing the Father's Day 5k continue as part of the 2026 Dover Race Series and in the future!

We also thank all our runners, volunteers, sponsors, and community nonprofit partners for their continued support and for being part of the Dover Race Series!