OTW Event Barricades at Flutie 5K for Autism 2025

It’s always fun to run for a cause, and the Flutie 5K lets people do just that! Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City, Utah, was the place to be on September 13 this year for the 26th anniversary of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation’s Flutie 5K for Autism, and OTW was absolutely thrilled to be part of such an incredible cause.   

What is the Flutie 5K?

The Flutie 5K has a miles-long history (race humor, anyone?), with founders Doug and Laurie Flutie starting the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation in honor of their son, Dougie Junior, who began to lose his speech, motor, and social skills at age three. With little to no support or services offered at the time for kids like Dougie and their families, Laurie and Doug fought to give access to other families and people with autism: the same opportunities, therapies, and programs that would help them live their lives to the fullest. Twenty-two plus years later, Dougie is thriving at home with his parents in Florida and continues to inspire everyone around him with his passion for all things sports. 

Naturally, a 5K run, alongside their other programs in Run Flutie, their “brand dedicated to making a positive impact on the autism community through running”, was an essential addition to the ways in which the foundation raises awareness and donations to continue to support people with autism (and their families) and help them pursue their passions.  

We sat down with Joe Katusich, Development Manager at the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation, to hear what he had to say about the Flutie 5K and their experience with OTW Safety pedestrian barricades.

According to Joe, “The Flutie 5K initiative started 25 years ago. It is an opportunity for people to not only participate in an all-inclusive race, [but] it has turned into a national initiative where some of our charity partners around the country, who want to raise money for their pocket of the autism community, can do so through the Flutie 5K initiative by partnering with us on a satellite Flutie 5K race.” To this day, the Flutie 5K continues to be a fun, inclusive, and positive way to make an impact and make “a difference in the lives of those affected by autism” (Doug Flutie Foundation, Run Flutie webpage). 

Let the race day begin!

The day dawned bright and early for the volunteers at the Flutie 5K for Autism in September this year! With strict rules regarding when equipment needed to be in and out of Sugar House Park, a delivery of crisp, white OTW event barricades was to the park by 7 AM for volunteers to set up. With plenty of time left after setting up the 60 [sponsored] barricades, volunteers were able to focus their time on the event as a whole rather than rushing to get crowd management under control before the 9:30 AM race start time.

A recurring sponsorship partner for OTW Safety, the Autism Solutions Academy (OTW previously sponsored their Inclusion Matters Fundraising Gala) was the recipient of the proceeds gathered for the Flutie 5K this year. We were honored to be a part of such an incredible event and are proud to help raise awareness and offset overhead costs for events like this. On top of the 60 white Billboard Barricades, we donated 15 sponsor signs that can be used for years to come, as well as 16 tables at the event. The sponsor signs were placed specifically on the barricades around the finish line, highlighting those who helped make the event possible (and making for some really great photos of the finish line!). 

Pedestrian barricades at the Finish Line

Sugar House Park is a lovely venue with tons of natural beauty, and race organizers wanted to both honor that… and help their runners find the finish line! To make the end of the race really apparent, volunteers set up a long “finish chute” to direct participants directly to the finish line and the end of the course. 

Concerning their intention with the placement of event barricades, Joe stated, “So for this event we’re at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City, which provides a really, really natural course, so we concentrated our barricades on our finish chute (which is highlighted in most of the photos), because it’s where people are finishing – sprinting towards the finish line, getting their medals. We like to create a place where it’s very clear this is where you go to finish, to go under the finish arch, and so we used most of them [OTW event barricades] there. 

[And] on top of that, you know, we rely heavily on volunteers – these barricades we were working with today were very accessible in that way where they were light, easy to manage,  and easy to put together. Several of our volunteers who were doing this said “I never thought I’d be able to do something like this”, which was really helpful because we were able to put them up efficiently. Then the banners are very prominently featured, [and] so easy to fasten. In terms of barricades, in my experience, this has probably been the easiest time I’ve had.”

We designed our Billboard Barricades to be one of the simplest and easiest barricades to set up, and it really shows! Thanks to their light weight and easy-to-maneuver profile, Lfutie 5K volunteers of varied abilities were able to set them up with no issue… and just see how much of an impact they made!

As for their experience with OTW Safety and our Billboard Barricades, here’s what he had to say: 

“I would say OTW has been incredibly helpful. They reached out to us, and it’s been a blessing for this event. They saved us not only a lot of time and effort in trying to find barricades, but also they increased the impact of the event by offsetting that cost, and we can now put that towards the local autism community. I would say anyone in the area who is looking for this type of service wouldn’t go wrong with OTW. We had a really smooth experience. We really appreciated how much time they put into it. They were a call away–we had a very nice call ahead of time just to go over some of the logistics, and the delivery was on time and easy, not a single thing do I have notes on. I would say, if you are looking for barricades for your race, charity, or otherwise, OTW is a pretty safe bet.”

Every time we get to be a part of something like this, we are so excited and honored to help create safer spaces at the events in our community. 

Getting ready for your own race day? Reach out to our team today to see how our Billboard Barricade can support your next racing event!