‘Fly Like Kylie 5K’ registration now open

For those looking to support young women interested in learning how to fly, the “Fly Like Kylie 5K” could be a good first step. The run raises funds for the Kylie Murray Memorial Flight Training Scholarship, which was created to celebrate Murray’s life and to “accelerate the flight training of a like-minded high school woman.”

The 5K run will take place at the Andover-Aeroflex Airport, with parking at Kittatinny Valley State Park (199 Goodale Road, Newton), on Saturday, October 15. The race begins at 10 a.m. Registration for the run is officially open. Those interested must sign up before September 15 if they wish to register at the $35 price; those who register after September 15 pay a race fee of $40. Registration will be open through to October 14.

The first 200 5K registrants will receive a race t-shirt and goodie bag filled with treats gifted by local sponsors. All kids who participate in the Kid’s “RUN” way event (a $10 registration fee is required) will receive a finisher’s ribbon. The overall winner of the 5K will receive a Discovery Flight from Andover Flight Academy. The event will also feature music, food, airplane displays and more.

The scholarship will provide a minimum $10,000 towards primary flight training and potentially through to instrument training. Women eligible for the scholarship must be between the ages of 16 and 19; have an interest in earning an aviation-oriented college degree, such as aviation management, professional flight, aviation maintenance, and aeronautical engineering; and be active in their high schools, including participating in at least one high school sport.

The scholarship is administered through the Experimental Aircraft Associations’ Ray Foundation, which also matches the scholarship, doubling the value. The application process for the scholarship opens every February, and the recipient will be announced in June; formal recognition will take place during EAA’s WomanVenture Oshkosh program.

Murray was a 21-year-old flight instructor at Cub Air Flight in Hartford, Wisconsin, when she died in a plane crash in 2021 while instructing a student pilot (the student survived). She had earned her private pilot certificate in 2018 during her senior year at Lake Forest High School in Illinois. She was an active student-athlete and was captain of the high school’s womens’ varsity soccer team and also a Deacon at First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest.

For more information about the race, the scholarship, or Murray’s passion for flying, visit bit.ly/Kylie5kOct15, or flylikekylie.org.