Sat, Oct 17, 2026
West Melbourne, FL
Entry is $35 now and rises to $40 after Oct 15, 2026, so registering before then saves $5.
This 5K in West Melbourne raises money for a local foundation that supports children and young adults with autism and other special needs. The race ties directly to a peer buddy and anti-bullying program, so the crowd tends to include families, first responders, and people connected to the foundation's work rather than just runners chasing a time.
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Going by the 2025 results, this is a decent-sized field, and the spread of finish times is wide, so this is a mostly recreational race rather than one for club runners.
5K · 2025 results
Top 3: Steve Hedgespeth (17:44) · Jerry Kalka (18:23) · Nate Dwenger (18:44)
The #Be A Buddy 5K has been held every year since at least 2017. That is as far back as RunSignup's records for this race go, so it may well be older.
Enter a finish time to see where it lands against the most recent 5K results.
How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Jul 27, 2026.
Set a goal and get a pace band: every mile split on a card sized for your phone lock screen, so race morning needs no math.
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Almost certainly not. Half the 5K field finished slower than 36:01, and the last recorded finisher came in around 1:04:58, so there is a long tail of runners behind the middle of the pack. Most fields are far slower than people expect.
A field of 373 is big enough that you will have company at your pace without feeling lost in a crowd. There is no qualifying time, and the finish-time spread above shows how varied the field really is. If it is your first 5K, that spread matters more than the winner's time.
The 5K winner ran 17:44 while the median finisher took 36:01. That spread points to a broad, mostly recreational field rather than a race dominated by club runners.
